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From The Odd Couple in the ‘60s, to Grumpier Old Men in the ‘90s, the comic team of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau collaborated on ten films in their distinguished careers. Few though can recall the first teaming of these legendary funny men in the 1966 Billy Wilder hidden gem The Fortune Cookie.
The Fortune Cookie is a wonderfully cynical, and at times, dark comedy about insurance swindling. The story concerns an on-field accident at a Cleveland Browns game when star running back Luther “Boom Boom” Jackson plows over a CBS cameraman Harry Hinkle (Lemmon), knocking him unconscious and sending him to a hospital. Hinkle’s shyster lawyer, and brother-in-law, “Whiplash Willie” Gingrich (Matthau) is quick to his bedside with a scheme to sue the City of Cleveland, CBS and the Browns football team for one million dollars. But in reality, Harry had only has minor injuries and reluctantly goes along, when the possibility of winning over his divorced wife gets added into the equation.
Wilder expertly defines the Lemmon and Matthau chemistry and establishes the prototypes of the Lemmon “honest/good guy” and Matthau as the slimy and abrasive schmuck. Matthau’s performance was so effectively funny he won the Oscar for best supporting actor in this role. Ron Rich is completely sympathetic as the guilt ridden Jackson, who befriends the bedridden Hinkle. The Fortune Cookie is a film with a humane message about honest behavior and the perfect little comic gem for the start of any football season.
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