The Odd Couple (1968)

Neil Simon is funny, and there's kind of no way around that. I had never seen the original Odd Couple film, although I have seen the play onstage several times. I did not expect to laugh much at this old style of humor with which I have become very impatient. (I especially find Jack Lemmon's characterizations at this point in his career very annoying.) But The Odd Couple is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and it's funny primarily because Walter Matthau's facial expressions get to do most of the work. In other words, the medium allows this old story – and the jokes I know by heart – to be funny all over again because I have a different kind of access to the comedians than I would if I saw them onstage. I laughed a lot at this.

Admittedly, when it ended I was like wait, that's the end? I had forgotten that this little thing that has been selling tickets across the country for more than 60 years basically has no stakes at all. The entire thing is insanely contrived and absurd. But I must admit that it is legitimately funny.