OVP: The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Film: The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Stars: Walter Matthau, George Burns, Richard Benjamin

Director: Herbert Ross

Oscar History: 4 nominations/1 win (Best Actor-Walter Matthau, Best Supporting Actor-George Burns*, Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

The 1970's were really the era of the "superstar" screenwriter.  Figures like Paddy Chayefsky, Robert Towne, Elaine May, & Woody Allen all were able to gain a level of fame simply from their work in front of a typewriter, not needing to be onscreen talent (though the latter occasionally were).  One figure like this is Neil Simon, whose many hit plays were a New York theater scene staple throughout the 1970's & made his wife, Marsha Mason, an Oscar perennial for a while.  The problem for me has always been that I never really gravitated in retrospect to Simon's work.  I get the moments that it's good (probably the best excursion for me is The Goodbye Girl), but I've never loved one of his films, and at this point I'm starting to run out of opportunities to relate to what he's making considering today's film, one of his most celebrated, just didn't click for me.  Today we're going to look at the Oscar-winning The Sunshine Boys.

(Spoilers Ahead) Though there are other characters in the picture (including cameos by Steve Allen & Phyllis Diller as themselves), this is mostly a three-man film about a legendary comedy duo Willy Clark (Matthau) and Al Lewis (George Burns) who are coaxed by Willy's nephew Ben (Benjamin) to get the vaudeville team back together for a comedy special on ABC that will net all three men a lot of money.  The only problem is that the two men hate each other, particularly Willy against Al.  We see them hash through old animosities while training for the special, including that Al left the group before Willy was ready to, and that they likely never truly liked each other even though they knew they were good together. The movie hits its climax when, after they can't pull it together in a dress rehearsal for the special, Willy has a heart attack and has to drop out.  At that point, he decides to retire, and during a reconciliation, it turns out both men are destined to end up in the same retirement home, forever linked, but now (perhaps) real friends.

The film weirdly was not a hit in 1975, despite its relatively storied legend as a success at the time, and that's likely due to its awards run.  The film dominated at the Golden Globes (Matthau, Burns, and Benjamin all won (the former two tied), as did the film itself for Best Picture), while it won four Oscar nominations, and took Best Supporting Actor for Burns.  The film wasn't intended to be for Burns initially (Jack Benny was supposed to take the part before he had to drop out due to the pancreatic cancer that would kill him before the film was even released), but Burns got the part on Benny's recommendation, and it totally rebounded his career, getting him a weird renaissance of film parts & lots of stage work for the next couple of decades.

The problem is that the film doesn't really earn any of those Oscar nominations.  The Art Direction is interesting (I love the chaotic lived-in nature of Matthau's apartment, particularly against the orderly nature of Burns' house with his daughter), but it's not all that noteworthy.  The acting is just okay-the film is meant to be heartfelt & funny, but it's really neither of those two things and the premise wears thin.  Matthau is better than Burns, as he's the more experienced actor, but plays the script (which is dated even for 1975) as being a curmudgeonly Jewish comedian that borders into stereotype.  Burns is okay in the role as Al, but it's not acting and sometimes it's hard to tell if he's just got his comic timing off or if he was genuinely missing a line.  It's likely that Hollywood, entranced by the charming comedian getting his big moment-in-the-sun decades after he first became famous with his beloved wife Gracie, couldn't resist giving him a trophy even if there was far better work to pick from in 1975.