Film

The Odd Couple

Name: The Odd Couple
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1968
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler, Herb Edelman, David Sheiner

Other titles called The Odd Couple: the 1970 series (ABC).

Buddy comedy
Light-hearted

Two mismatched men share an apartment in 1960s Manhattan, and their clashing habits become the engine of pure sitcom gold. Lemmon is finicky and weeping; Matthau is slovenly and gruff. It's a character-comedy masterclass that influenced decades of buddy movies and odd-couple pairings. For anyone who loves banter, impeccable timing, or just watching smart people be funny.

TMDb rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love comedy built on two sharply drawn personalities locked in a room together, where the friction is the joke and the timing of a bickering exchange does most of the work.

Skip it if you want a fast, plot-driven picture; this one is mostly talk, rooms and rhythm, and its 106 minutes can feel like a long evening if you come for gags rather than character.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a conversational, unhurried film whose laughs come from watching two men wear each other down, so it rewards steady attention more than constant action.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Singin' in the Rain1952

A comedy so perfectly constructed it feels like a blueprint for everything that came after. The joy is genuine, the performances are effortless, and the dancing will wreck you. Pure pleasure.

But If you're not ready for mid-century Hollywood charm and technicolor exuberance, it can feel like stepping into another planet.

Some Like It Hot1959

Lemmon and Tony Curtis in drag, Marilyn Monroe being luminous, and jokes that haven't aged a second. The pacing is relentless and the premise never stops generating comedy. Proof that farce is a high art.

But The gender-play premise, while harmless and joyful, might feel dated if you're not in the mood for that particular era's sensibilities.

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard have a chemistry that makes their bickering irresistible. It's funny, romantic, and melancholic all at once. The perfect-length escape from the world.

But It moves slowly by modern standards, and the romantic resolution might feel tidy to cynical viewers.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Odd Couple

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Bottle Rocket1996

Both use mismatched pairs as the core comedic engine, but where The Odd Couple found humor in domestic friction, Bottle Rocket finds it in the gap between ambition and reality, using two men who can't quite grow up.

Wes Anderson's debut pairs Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson as bumbling petty criminals with more heart than sense. It has the same DNA as The Odd Couple—two incompatible people bound together—but filters it through deadpan deadheads and small-time desperation. Funny and sad in equal measure.

But It's understated to the point of seeming slow. The comedy is quiet; there are long stretches of people just being. Wes Anderson's mannered style won't click for everyone.

It Happened One Night1934

The original screwball comedy that taught Hollywood how to do this. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert spark off each other with wit and warmth. Still feels spontaneous and alive after nearly 90 years.

But Black and white, 1930s pacing, and pre-method acting can feel theatrical if you're used to naturalism.

Tootsie1982

Dustin Hoffman becomes Dorothy, and the film uses that premise to ask real questions about gender and respect while staying completely hilarious. It's smart comedy with genuine heart underneath.

But Two hours and twenty minutes, and the final act gets sentimental. Some find the earnestness undercuts the comedy.

Trading Places1983

Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd's dynamic—swagger meets stiffness—fuels a plot that's both clever and absurd. It's a con-artist comedy that trusts its audience to keep up and rewards them.

But 80s excess and some dated attitudes toward women; it's very much of its era, for better and worse.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles1987

Steve Martin and John Candy are so good together that you don't notice you're watching a buddy comedy about connection and loneliness. Funny, touching, and endlessly rewatchable.

But The sentimentality in the final act isn't ironic. If that bothers you, the tone shift will feel unearned.

Ghostbusters1984

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis riff on each other with script and ad-libbing so sharp you believe they're actually solving supernatural crimes. Comedy-adventure at its peak.

But The plot is honestly thin, and if you're not invested in the characters' chemistry, you might notice the seams.

The In-Laws1979

Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, two styles of comedy colliding. Absurdist spy-caper hijinks played by excellent comedians who sell every weird moment. A cult classic that deserves wider love.

But It's deliberately strange and lurches tonally; if you need coherence and consistency, this will feel scattered.

Breathless1960

The core is two people in close quarters riffing off each other's energy—one reckless, one uncertain—creating comedy and tension from pure personality clash. The setting and stakes are totally different, but the alchemy is the same.

Godard's lovers-on-the-run film looks like it was made yesterday. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg banter, improvise, and destroy each other with the kind of intimate sparring that The Odd Couple perfected. It's sexy, funny, and strange.

But It's French New Wave experimental cinema. The narrative meanders, the editing is choppy, and if you want plot, you're looking at the wrong film.

Veep2012

Both are built on the rhythm of two (or more) incompatible people forced into proximity, finding humor in the friction. Veep takes the template and makes it darker and more political, but the engine is identical: incompatibility as comedy fuel.

Seven seasons of characters bound together by circumstance, clashing constantly. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her staff improvise insults and schemes with machine-gun pacing and genuine affection underneath the cruelty. It proves The Odd Couple's formula scales beautifully to TV.

But The humor is aggressive and the characters are mostly awful people. If you need likability and warmth, this will feel mean-spirited and exhausting by season three.