The Sunshine Boys Movie Download

9 / 10

A bit slow, but quite funny and rewarding…
This is the film version of Neil Simon’s play “The Sunshine Boys”. According to IMDb, they originally wanted to cast Jack Benny in the film but he couldn’t do it due to bad health. It sure might have been a very different movie had they been able to go with this original casting decision.

The film begins with a young agent, Ben (Richard Benjamin), waiting for his Uncle Willie (Walter Matthau) to meet him at a tryout for a commercial. But, the elderly Willie has not shown–much of this due to his senility. When he does show, an hour late, he is totally unprepared and totally botches the ad. Yet, despite Willie being completely uncooperative and hard to like, Ben keeps trying again and again to help his uncle find work. Eventually, Ben comes up with an absolutely insane idea–reunite Willie with his old Vaudeville partner, Al (George Burns). The problem with this notion is that Willie and Al hate each other with an intensity that dwarfs the hatred between Lincoln and Booth! To make things worse, both are extremely senile and difficult–and seem to delight in tormenting each other. Can these two super-annoying men manage to put aside their animosity in order to make a reunion appearance on TV?

While George Burns received an Oscar for his performance, he was clearly not the leading man in the film–hence his Best Supporting Actor award. The film’s pivotal character was Willie–with Matthau clearly throwing himself into the bigger-than-life role. While significantly younger than his character, he managed to do a great job playing perhaps the most crotchety old man in history. While there were very, very few scenes of Burns without Matthau in the film, Matthau was in practically every minute of the film…and made the most of it.

The film is a must-see for fans of classic comedy and Vaudeville. However, some viewers might be a tad put off by the film’s 1970s sensibilities–with lots of cursing. However, the language was true to the characters–they were really nasty old #^$!(!!s. Excellent acting, script and also a lot of fun.

By the way, Neil Simon and the rest really did a good job of re-creating the whole look and style of the comedy duo. So much of it was reminiscent of the act of Smith and Dale. Plus, I loved such snippets as the visit to the deli and the bag from Zabar’s Jewish market–nice little New York touches.Read More