The Odd Couple II

After 30 years, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon reunite as bickering buddies Oscar and Felix in the belated sequel to Neil Simon's screen adaptation of his play. Actually this should be Odd Couple IV, since the Grumpy Old Men movies have featured Matthau and Lemmon in the same roles -- the sardonic Jew and the anal gentile. But this official reprise is blander than the Grumpy outings. Oscar's son and Felix's daughter are tying the knot, and Simon takes the opportunity to send the two parents on a misadventure through the California desert as they're traveling to the wedding. There are some giggles (almost every California town is named San or Los something) and the pair seem hip to what makes their partnership work (Lemmon is still the straight man; Matthau is still one slyly droll, hilarious cat). But there's not much more to this film than whining about growing old and the repetitive sort-of-funny squabbling. Whatever was odd about the original Couple has become all too familiar. At the Harbour Mall, Holiday, Narragansett, Showcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Danny Lorber