The Marriage Fool

It must be said that i cannot resist anything by Walter Matthau in it and thank God i was not proven wrong.This is so easy watching and tender and believe me when i say that former wooden teen hrob John Stamos has just about carried the flick here. You can identify with him and that's just all the premise he needed to perform. Carol Burnett was neatly cast and subdued but it's so good to see her and Walter in a role that allows them to be so relaxed.By the way, Teri G as the Stamos love interest...she can wear those gold tops anyday on a cold morning. All in all ..a gentle,touching and honest film.

Another tender and moving direct for t.v. movie starring John Stamos. In the likes of "A Match Made In Heaven"; this movie displays the perfect, funny, tender relationship between Walter Matthau and John Stamos. I really dug how well they got along. Their were a very charismatic on-screen duo.

The relationship between Stamos and Polo is also very good. Polo is incredibly beautiful and has a unique charm. Also, when they have the "big" difficulty you can't help but feel touched.

Matthau steals the show once again with a moving performance. The man can say a lot of things with his eyes... In memoriam. A truly great, great actor.

We watched this the other night with a few glasses of wine and came away entertained and happy. Although the film may be typical of the type actors make when in their latter years, with Walter Matthau heading the cast it was always going to be above average. Great support from Carol Burnett as the new lady in his life and John Stamos as the hesitant son, both playing it with just enough without going over the top. I would never have known this was made as a TV movie if I hadn't read about it, it seems to have production values and talent way above the usual TV fare. One point - a number of rather crass paintings of clowns appear in the film and one of them looks just like Matthau's old partner Jack Lemmon, I wonder if this was deliberate? Recommended without hesitation.

The biggest surprise in this movie was an amazingly good performance by John Stamos. With 2 icons like Matthau and Burnett, you would expect that it would be their performances that would carry the load, but it is actually the relationship between Matthau and Stamos that is at the heart of this story. They have a wonderfully natural chemistry together, I'm betting that Stamos was in awe of the opportunity to work so closely with a master like Matthau and it was likely that closeness that drew out such a great dramatic performance by Stamos. Burnett is great as always, but her role is quite subdued and the real magic in this movie takes place in the exchanges between the 2 male leads. Terry Polo also gives a nice performance here. All in all this was a satisfying watch. A very simple story but acted with such a natural credibility by the ensemble cast and an intelligent script that it is elevated to being much better than average.

Check out that cast! The awesome walter matthau, carol burnett. After mom dies, the (fully grown, adult) kids don't approve of dad's new girlfriend. She's only been nice to them, but they still give her attitude. Dad and new the girlfriend make wedding plans. When (oldest son) Rob's girlfriend sees how he reacts, she realizes she needs a break from him. It's cute, but takes a while to get going. And that non-stop hallmark movie music! A little goes a long way. It's a pretty solid story about communication, but I probably wouldn't have been as interested if matthau and burnett weren't in it. It's okay. Directed by charlie matthau, walt's son. Based on the play by richard vetere. This was walter's second to last film. He and burnett must have enjoyed working together... they made three films !