Rating: 
Summary: Four stars for content, but........
Review: "The Fortune Cookie" has long been one of my favorite Billy Wilder movies, and I was pleased to see it's release on DVD, especially in the original widescreen format. While the movie and performances are great (especially Walter Matthau in his Oscar-winning turn), and the script by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond hits the target, I was very disappointed in the lackluster transfer to disc that this unqualified classic received. Sure, the letterboxing is great, but halfway through the film, the sound quality takes a turn for the worse - less audible, and almost scratchy at times. Plus, the only "extra" is the original trailer, and there is no additional booklet. Surely a genius like Wilder deserves better preservation than this!
Rating:
Summary: Four stars for content, but........
Review: "The Fortune Cookie" has long been one of my favorite Billy Wilder movies, and I was pleased to see it's release on DVD, especially in the original widescreen format. While the movie and performances are great (especially Walter Matthau in his Oscar-winning turn), and the script by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond hits the target, I was very disappointed in the lackluster transfer to disc that this unqualified classic received. Sure, the letterboxing is great, but halfway through the film, the sound quality takes a turn for the worse - less audible, and almost scratchy at times. Plus, the only "extra" is the original trailer, and there is no additional booklet. Surely a genius like Wilder deserves better preservation than this!
Rating:
Summary: Four stars for content, but........
Review: "The Fortune Cookie" has long been one of my favorite Billy Wilder movies, and I was pleased to see it's release on DVD, especially in the original widescreen format. While the movie and performances are great (especially Walter Matthau in his Oscar-winning turn), and the script by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond hits the target, I was very disappointed in the lackluster transfer to disc that this unqualified classic received. Sure, the letterboxing is great, but halfway through the film, the sound quality takes a turn for the worse - less audible, and almost scratchy at times. Plus, the only "extra" is the original trailer, and there is no additional booklet. Surely a genius like Wilder deserves better preservation than this!
Rating: 
Summary: Whoa Nelly!
Review: Andre Previn's music sets the scene for Billy Wilder's black-and-white world. From slinky jazz to raucous Central European classical, Previn captures the cynical and the sentimental in the sly director's unmistakable touch.Jack Lemmon captures it too. All-American with a nervous twitch-- I mean, twist-- Lemmon is a good guy, a normal guy, with a mad streak. In this case, he wants his wife back-- wants her bad. Walter Matthau-- "Whiplash Willie"-- exploits his brother-in-law's unrequited love by bringing a lawsuit (for one-million dollars) against the Cleveland Browns, CBS, and Municipal Stadium. If you know the rest, I need not repeat; if you don't-- that is, if you haven't seen the movie--I won't give it away. But you might want to know a few things. Hapless Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is a camera-man for CBS, at a Browns game, and punt-returner Boom Boom Jackson (Ron Rich) runs into him. Fans of football (though college instead of pro) will be happy to recognize a younger version of the great-- the legendary-- Keith Jackson (of ABC). So, with his big sad eyes, Hinkle wants his wife back. There's something sentimental in here about love, about how much we need it. But brother-in-law Willie is all cynicism-- delicious, laugh-out-loud cynicism. There are a few uncomfortable moments-- for me anyway-- regarding the treatment of Ron Rich's character. He does a lot of smiling, cooking, cleaning, encouraging, making up of beds, and (not to spoil the plot), drinking, punching, and so forth. But the punch-line-- yes, the punch-line-- of the movie rests on a very progressive, an enlightened, handling of race matters, and really, it would be unfair to say Boom Boom Jackson is a stereotype of an African-American athlete. Two of the equipment guys say he's the last guy they'd expect to get in a fight after having too many drinks. It seems Billy Wilder never wants us to get too comfortable as we're watching his pictures. Beware of thinking too deeply about these things, but this movie-- one of his very best-- has an edge to it that makes you say "pure genius." Jack Lemmon in his wheelchair whirring about the room to "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"-- you feel like crying even as you're laughing. Well, I do at any rate.
Rating:
Summary: Great plot, funny all the way through!
Review: Even if you're not a football fan, this is a great film. If you're not a fan of lawyers, then this is definately a great film. It's funny, plausible, and if you're from Cleveland, or a Cleveland Browns fan, then you must see this video. Especially at the end when the credits thank Art Modell for his help in the production of the film. Get the tomatoes and eggs ready for heaving as soon as his name comes up...but remember it's still your TV set.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Weak Wilder Comedy
Review: How exactly this film is billed as a comedy is beyond me. I can't remember laughing at this movie. I guess it's a comedy-of manners, but really lacks wit. I'm suprised to even say that this is a Billy Wilder film. How could the man who made such classics as "Sunset Boulevard", "Some Like It Hot" , and "Double Indemnity" have actually made this movie! A very weak and unfunny screenplay by I.A.L Diamond and Wilder himself. If it weren't for the fact that there are two star performances by Lemmon and Matthau, and fine supporting players like Judi West and Ron Rich, I might consider giving this one star. The story goes something like this, Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is a camera man who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, see he collides with football star Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Rich). Hinkle's brother-in-law, Willie Gingrich (Matthau) seeks the perfect opportunity to try and pull off a insurance scam. Hinkle of course at first is totally against the whole idea. But when he's ex-wife calls, Sandy (West), to check if her ex is ok, Harry starts to think, maybe he could win his wife back. All of this seems like a pretty good idea. You would think that perhaps some laughs could come out of this. But Wilder and Diamond have something else up their sleeve. They both completely avoided the comedy and seemed to try to give the movie more "heart". It seems like they wanted to make a drama more than a comedy. Which is fine with me. Only I was expecting a comedy. The story really seems to drag, why Wilder felt the movie had to be a little over two hours long I'll never understand. He could of made the same bad movie in 90 minutes. The movie was nominated for 4 Oscars, why I don't know. And was awarded only one, which went to Matthau, for best supporting actor. One of Wilder's weeker films, and one everyone should stay away from. ** 1\2 out of *****
Rating:
Summary: Very Weak Wilder Comedy
Review: How exactly this film is billed as a comedy is beyond me. I can't remember laughing at this movie. I guess it's a comedy-of manners, but really lacks wit. I'm suprised to even say that this is a Billy Wilder film. How could the man who made such classics as "Sunset Boulevard", "Some Like It Hot" , and "Double Indemnity" have actually made this movie! A very weak and unfunny screenplay by I.A.L Diamond and Wilder himself. If it weren't for the fact that there are two star performances by Lemmon and Matthau, and fine supporting players like Judi West and Ron Rich, I might consider giving this one star. The story goes something like this, Harry Hinkle (Lemmon) is a camera man who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, see he collides with football star Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Rich). Hinkle's brother-in-law, Willie Gingrich (Matthau) seeks the perfect opportunity to try and pull off a insurance scam. Hinkle of course at first is totally against the whole idea. But when he's ex-wife calls, Sandy (West), to check if her ex is ok, Harry starts to think, maybe he could win his wife back. All of this seems like a pretty good idea. You would think that perhaps some laughs could come out of this. But Wilder and Diamond have something else up their sleeve. They both completely avoided the comedy and seemed to try to give the movie more "heart". It seems like they wanted to make a drama more than a comedy. Which is fine with me. Only I was expecting a comedy. The story really seems to drag, why Wilder felt the movie had to be a little over two hours long I'll never understand. He could of made the same bad movie in 90 minutes. The movie was nominated for 4 Oscars, why I don't know. And was awarded only one, which went to Matthau, for best supporting actor. One of Wilder's weeker films, and one everyone should stay away from. ** 1\2 out of *****
Rating: 
Summary: Not a comedy
Review: I was very disappointed in this film. Although listed as a comedy, The Fortune Cookie lacks not only any comedic elements but, in my opinion, also the trademark Lemmon/Matthau chemistry. Matthau plays a shyster lawyer who convinces Lemmon, his brother-in-law, to go along with an insurance scam after an accident. Go into this expecting a drama, not a comedy, and you may like it. Still, as a drama, there was a lot of missed potential in the developing of subplots. Matthau won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role, so I may just be missing some deeper philosophical angle ... but I was expecting a comedy. You know, the kind where you laugh?
Rating:
Summary: Not a comedy
Review: I was very disappointed in this film. Although listed as a comedy, The Fortune Cookie lacks not only any comedic elements but, in my opinion, also the trademark Lemmon/Matthau chemistry. Matthau plays a shyster lawyer who convinces Lemmon, his brother-in-law, to go along with an insurance scam after an accident. Go into this expecting a drama, not a comedy, and you may like it. Still, as a drama, there was a lot of missed potential in the developing of subplots. Matthau won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this role, so I may just be missing some deeper philosophical angle ... but I was expecting a comedy. You know, the kind where you laugh?
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful CYNICAL comedy
Review: Jack Lemmon is a TV camerman. During a pro-football telecast, he is hit along the sidelines by an out-of-bounds player and immediately taken to the hospital with possible injuries. Enter his crooked lawyer brother-in-law, Willy Gingrich (Walter Mathau). This lawyer convinces Lemmon to fake a back injury in order to collect BIG bucks from the insurance company. The movie title refers to a message in a fortune cookie (You can fool all the people some of the time......). Although not at the level of "Some Like It Hot", this is one of Billy Wilder's best comedies. His view of humanity is certainly cynical and bleak, but not nihilistic. The best performance is by Mathau who plays Willy to the hilt. He's wonderful and deserved his Oscar. The music by Andre Previn is also very good and very sly. You won't be disappointed. Bring on the DVD!
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