 " you leave little notes on my pillow . 
i told you a million times i can't stand little notes on my pillow . 
'we are all out of corn flakes - f . u . ' 
it took me three hours to figure out that 'f . u . ' was felix unger . " 
--- a frustrated oscar madison ( walter matthau ) running down a list of his complaints against his roommate felix unger ( jack lemmon ) , in the odd couple . 
the classic neil simon comedy ( based on his own stage play ) about suicidal felix ( lemmon ) , who is persuaded by his poker friend oscar ( matthau ) to stay with him in his apartment after felix's wife throws him out and files for divorce . 
the hook : oscar is messy and likes his apartment that way , while felix is an obsessive/compulsive neat freak . 
the two men , despite their friendship , instantly clash . 
movies just aren't as delightfully funny as this one is . 
every line of neil simon's dialogue flows like comedic poetry , and all the actors are just perfect in their performances . 
lemmon is at his best as the anxiety ridden felix , but it's matthau who shines brightest as oscar , whose world is being invaded and rearranged , mostly against his wishes ( the type of character i always enjoy identifying with ) . 
and who can forget that catchy score by neal hefti ? 
the best thing about the film ( and this is a testament to the quality of the writing ) is that it's a comedy with substance . 
these two men , even while at each other's throats , genuinely care for one another as friends . 
when they clash , it isn't cartoonish hatred being displayed , but genuine frustration with the fact that they are such good friends but just cannot manage to co-exist . 
movies nowadays , take grumpy old men for example , just don't have that extra spark there . 
these days it's just animosity for the sake of comedy . 
a television series followed ( starring jack klugman and tony randall ) , which i'll admit i've never seen an episode of in its entirety , and neil simon even scripted the sequel , the odd couple ii , which was released in 1998 . 
neither of them compare to this comic masterpiece though . 
it's one of the best comedies of all time and easily earns its spot in my top ten favorite films . 
