The Odd Couple II
| The Odd Couple II | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Howard Deutch |
| Produced by |
Neil Simon Robert W. Cort David Madden |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
| Cinematography | Jamie Anderson |
| Edited by | Seth Flaum |
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Production
company |
Cort/Madden Productions
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Box office | $18,912,328 |
The Odd Couple II is the 1998 sequel to 1968's The Odd Couple. Written by Neil Simon (who also produced), the film reunites Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. The film was the actors' last together. It is also significant among sequels for having one of the longest gaps between the release of the original and a sequel in which all leads return.
Each actor made only one more theatrical film after this: The Legend of Bagger Vance for Lemmon and Hanging Up for Matthau, in which neither actor played a leading role, both in 2000.
It has been 17 years since Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar have seen one another. Oscar is still hosting a regular poker game and is still an untidy slob, now living in Sarasota, Florida, but still a sportswriter. One day, he is called by his son Brucey with an invitation to California for his wedding the following Sunday. A second shock for Oscar—the woman his son is marrying is Felix's daughter, Hannah.
On the flight from New York to Los Angeles, it becomes clear that Felix has not changed his ways—he is still a fussy, allergy-suffering neat freak nuisance. Oscar and Felix are reunited at the airport and very happy to be together again after 17 years of separation—at least for a couple of minutes. They intend to share a rental car to San Malina for the wedding. But the trip begins with Oscar forgetting Felix's suitcase at the Budget car rental, including wedding gifts and wardrobe inside. Oscar also loses the directions to San Malina when his cigar ashes burn them.
He and Felix become hopelessly lost, unable to even remember the name of the town where they are headed, so many California city names sounding alike. They end up in a rural area, where the car rolls off a cliff and catches fire. If that were not enough, they get arrested several times by the local police, first for catching a ride in a truck carrying illegal Mexican immigrants. At a bar in town, they meet two extroverted women, Thelma and Holly, and buy them drinks. Accepting an offer of a ride from a stranger even older than themselves, Felix and Oscar end up inside a $150,000 vintage Rolls Royce Silver Wraith with a dead body and get arrested a second time.
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Wikipedia