BEFORE: Full disclosure, I did watch an extra two films this weekend - one extra on Saturday and one on Sunday. Why did I do that? Well, one's going to be my July 4 film, and I expect to be away for the weekend, so I won't have access to that film, which I was forced to watch online. More on that in my post on July 4. The other was that big film with the dinosaurs and I'll post the review later in July, for my own reasons. But watching two disparate films like "Jurassic World" and a classic Jack Lemmon/Neil Simon film is a bit like this weekend's Mets game, which is being followed by a Steve Miller concert. People already say that baseball games take too long, so I can't possibly understand who would sit through a 4-hour ball game and then stick around for Steve Miller (speaking of dinosaurs... am I right?) and I say this as someone who sort of digs his music. Perhaps if I liked his music more, I'd consider it, but as is, I don't get the combination.
THE PLOT: A suddenly unemployed ex-executive suffers a nervous breakdown.
AFTER: I screwed up after watching "The Great Race", and I used Jack Lemmon's dual role in that film to reference "The Prince and the Pauper", when Blake Edwards was really doing a riff on "The Prisoner of Zenda", which I was not familiar with. Now I wondered if tonight's film was doing a riff on the TITLE of "The Prisoner of Zenda", because "Second" sort of sounds like "Zenda", no? OK, maybe it's just me.
It turns out this is a fine companion piece to "The Out-of-Towners" - even though there's no traveling in this one, it's still a case where Lemmon is put in situations that keep getting worse and worse. This time he's the victim of a corporate layoff, and has to re-adjust to spending the day at home. Taken together, you really see how Jack Lemmon was the inspiration for Gil Gunderson on "The Simpsons", another character who never seems to get a break, with regards to employment or just about anything.
Also, this is another examination of all of the petty annoyances that are (I assume) unique to New York - loud neighbors and thin walls, muggers, robbers, that summer smell of rotting garbage that somehow makes it up to the 14th floor, the noise of the subway that also makes it up that high, the annoying relatives who live out in New Jersey and are all smug about it, bus drivers who would only take exact change, elevator problems, water shut-offs, etc. etc. Plus, it's mid-summer and his sleeping choices seem to be keeping the window open and roasting, or turning the air-conditioning on and freezing.
Lemmon's Mel Edison is Everyman, because we've all been inconvenienced, and what is life, if not a never-ending series of inconveniences? Some of us have had noisy neighbors, some of us have BEEN the noisy neighbors, and I assume some people have been both at different times in their lives. Some people have been laid off, and had to suffer the indignity of looking for work, reporting in at the unemployment office, or feeling left out while watching their spouse work extra hours in an attempt to pick up the slack.
Believe me, I've been there. Since one of my jobs went away last October, I've been working just three days a week at the remaining one, which leaves me extra time at home. You would think that would make it easier to get a few things done around the house, but in fact it's harder - most days I end up sleeping later, which gives me less incentive and less time to get to the chores around the house. I admit there are days now where I don't bother getting dressed, or maintaining flawless personal hygiene, but I try to get out and at least do a little grocery shopping, which gives me an excuse to go to a local café for lunch. Other days I try to get into the city and take care of some things like doctor's appointments, which was sort of low on the to-do list while I was working five days a week.
I should be keeping the comic book collection organized, I should be making sure my suitcase is repaired and ready for the San Diego trip, I should be getting the basement ceiling repaired, running the dishwasher and putting away laundry - on the average day there are many things I should be doing, instead of just playing "Lego Star Wars" and doing crossword puzzles. Hell, I should be looking for another part-time job, and I've done some of that, but not much. Fortunately I've been putting aside money for the last two decades, so I can take it easy for a little while longer - cutting back my expenses has also helped extend the period I can remain partially employed.
But I sympathize with Mel Edison, who was irritable and irascible before he lost his job, and then went a little stir crazy afterwards. It happens - the only thing you can do is shrug and sigh and work out a routine of chores that can keep you occupied until other employment comes along.
NITPICK POINT: Mel complains that he hasn't had "a real piece of bread in thirty years." This is meant as a joke, obviously, because he then laments that he should have saved some rolls when he was a kid. Umm, Mel lives in New York City, with a bakery every few blocks. Why can't he get some decent bread? He just has to go out and get it, or (since this was the 1970's) tell his wife what bread she should buy. Bread of all types should be readily available for purchase, doesn't Neil Simon realize this? If I'm feeling nostalgic I'll get some German cold cuts and a loaf of rye bread, it takes me right back - but if you want rolls, we've got them too, and some people say that NYC water helps bakers make the best bread, so how is this a valid complaint?
Also starring Anne Bancroft (last seen in "Keeping the Faith"), Gene Saks, Elizabeth Wilson (last seen in "The Birds"), Florence Stanley, Maxine Stuart, Ed Peck, with cameos from M. Emmet Walsh (last seen in "The Best of Times"), F. Murray Abraham (last seen in "The Grand Budapest Hotel"), Sylvester Stallone (last seen in "Klute").
RATING: 4 out of 10 chandeliers
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