The Fortune Cookie (1966)

"The Fortune Cookie" is a very dark comedy--with an emphasis on serious drama as well. So, if you're looking for a rollicking comedy, this is not the film for you. Now I am not saying there's anything wrong with the movie...but it's just a very different sort of film and has a sharp edge to it.The film begins at a Cleveland Browns game. A player, Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich), is returning a kick and accidentally plows into a cameraman on the sideline. The poor schnook (Jack Lemmon) is knocked cold in front of tens of thousands of fans and find himself awake in the hospital. However, before he can even try to get out of bed, his sleazy brother-in-law (Walter Matthau) tells him of his scheme--to exploit a childhood injury and pretend it's from the football tackle. Then, this sleazy lawyer (am I being redundant?!) plans on suing everybody for a million bucks--a ton of money back in 1966. To get him to agree to the lawsuit, the sleazy lawyer convinces him that he could use his injury to get his ex-wife to return...and when she smells money, she's quick to come running. The scheme seems to be coming off perfectly...until the real damage of all this starts to become apparent.The film is well written and very well acted. Is it a fun or feel- good movie? No way...but it is an interesting lesson about human nature and greed. And, sadly, it's a story every bit as timeless today as it was back in the day. By the way, the film might surprise you a bit with all the cursing for a 1960s movie. This isn't so much a complaint but an observation about the earthy style of this incredibly cynical film.

In any other hands the two lead characters could have been pretty unlikable, after all they are pulling off a scam. However, in with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the parts it become a comedic master class and a classic black comedy.Matthau won an Oscar for his role here and it's easy to see why. In every scene he sparkles, playing the sort of lovable grump that he played so well.As with all their collaborations the chemistry between him and Lemmon makes the film, and more the compensates for the slower moments in the film.'The Odd Couple' maybe the film that these two are most remembered for in terms of their collaborations, but 'The Fortune Cookie' is well worth watching.

As with most Billy Wilder movies this appears to be tackling issues way ahead of it's time. A lot of reviews i have read have accused this movie of racism but at the end 1 white and 1 black man are the only 2 people who share morals. A fantastic Walther Mathau demands attention throughout and Jack Lemmon plays the fall guy again as he does best. With a magnificent cast and attentive direction this masterpiece is proof that not all modern movies with millions behind them are the best. This ageless beauty will still be a classic in a hundred years. God bless both Jack and Walter,,,what a gift to leave all modern movie makers.

THE FORTUNE COOKIE is Billy Wilder's last Black & White feature and marked the first collaboration of the comedy two-hander Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (ten more times would follow). The story rotates around an accident prompted insurance scam, plotted by Walter Matthau, the brother-in-law of our protagonist, a sport channel cameraman (Lemmon) who has to feign his spinal injure to ascertain a grand indemnity from the insurance company. It may reminisce of Wilder's noir chief-d'oeuvre DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944, 8/10), but it is a self-aware comedy, plays out effectively with a scintillating performance from Mr. Mattau (which deservedly earned him an Oscar).The picture may be eclipsed by Wilder's other more orthodox great works as aforementioned DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE APARTMENT (1960, 9/10), SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959, 6/10), WITNESS FOR PROSECUTION (1957, 9/10), which are on my viewing lists only. Nevertheless itself is a well-intentioned conscience and guilt parable, the script derives from Wilder's whimsical idea and feels cosseting its audience with an overdone happy ending, which is too saccharine and slackens the frisson which has been accumulated since the dawn of the swindle (we all know it will receive an anticlimax, the only question remains is how). Jack Lemmon is as studious as usual, painstakingly exerts great sympathetic effort from his (mostly) wheelchair-and-corset confined character, which doesn't have any cinematic idiosyncrasy to churn out, an ordinary guy who falls victim of the manipulation of his chiseled lawyer-cum-brother-in-law and the sex-driven chimera of his money-grabbing ex-wife's comeback. Walter Mattau excels the rest of the cast with his eloquent showboating of his professional acumen and satirizing punchlines. Judi West is also very competent in playing the double-faced ex-wife, lends her role a whiff of intricacy against the stale women- derogation assumption. Ron Rich by comparison, although serves as a game-changer player in the plot, is a green banana and wanting the charisma needed to persuade viewers to (at least) believe in his side of story. The character actor Cliff Osmond, as the private detective, launches many gags which leave some indelible impressions too. Texturally speaking, the Black & White images emit a gloss of richness and sentimentality's, the melodic, sporadic score by Andre Previn goes smoothly with the context, not Wilder's best, but still an appealing comedy from the Hollywood golden epoch.