The Odd Couple (1968)

November 29, 2022 2:31 PM

A New Yorker newly separated from his wife moves in with his best friend, a divorced sportswriter, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day. Trailer.

98% on Rotten Tomatoes; available on Hoopla and Pluto TV, plus for pay (JustWatch listing.

posted by johnofjack (2 comments total)

I don't know how well this holds up, but it had me in stitches when I watched it 5-10ish years ago. I mean I'm a sucker for Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau, and them together is great.
posted by Carillon at 10:33 PM on November 29, 2022

This movie apparently had quite the impact on my parents' housewarming party (two years before us kids were born, btw). They had everyone at folding tables in the basement, the biggest room in the house; a couple people were discussing this film, and in particular the famous scene where there was the moment with spaghetti vs. linguini. The first person had seen the film and was describing it to the second; they were both chuckling over it.

And a third person who'd been eavesdropping started butting in, asking "wait, what did Walter Matthau do with the spaghetti?" over and over. Finally, the person who'd seen the film said, "he did THIS!" and picked up the third person's plate and threw it at the wall.

The whole table fell silent. Then, the second person at the table picked up his own plate and said, "naaaaah, I think it looked more like this -" and threw his plate at the wall as well.

And my father, who'd also seen The Odd Couple and figured out what was going on, picked up his plate and said "nah, you're both wrong, it was like this." And threw his own plate against the wall as well.

And that's how a food fight broke out at my parents' housewarming party.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on November 30, 2022 [12 favorites]