User reviews

THE SUNSHINE BOYS was the hilarious 1975 screen adaptation of Neil Simon's play about a retired vaudevillian team, played by Walter Matthau and George Burns, who had a very bitter breakup and have been asked to reunite one more time for a television special or something like that. The problem is that the two still hate each other and want nothing to do with each other. Richard Benjamin appears as Matthau's nephew, a theatrical agent who has been given the monumental responsibility of making this reunion a reality. This warm and winning comedy is a lovely valentine to a forgotten form of entertainment...vaudeville and it works mainly thanks to one of Neil Simon's better screenplays and outstanding work by Matthau, Burns, and Benjamin. Burns won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this, but I think Matthau walks away with this film with his flawlessly hilarious performance as Willy Clark. Matthau was nominated for Best Actor but didn't stand a chance against Nicholson for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST; however, in another year, this was an Oscar-worthy performance. Matthau commands the screen and there is not a false note in this beautifully timed performance. The scene where he is auditioning for a potato chip commercial and can't get the name of the product right is a classic. THE SUNSHINE BOYS is a warm and winning Neil Simon comedy which shines thanks to unbeatable chemistry between Matthau and Burns.

Simon's carefully written dialogues are truly electrified by Matthau and Burns. You can literally hear the script crackle. There are few movies out there that can develop such a relationship between the actors and the script. For example, the famed reunion scene could have been a lot duller with less-quality actors involved. Matthau seems to had been born to play Willie Clark (of course, Oscar moreso in the Odd Couple), and with all of the little idiosyncracies and mannerisms that Matthau crams into the character (the line where he is arguing that he is with it since he lives in the city whereas Lewis lives in the country that Lewis is "out of touch" is the quintessential example of this) make this one of the best performances I've ever seen of any actor in any role, be it comedic or drama or whatever else. Period. Matthau and Burns work excellently together; the contrast they portray accentuates Simon's superb knack at creating comedic conflict. This movie is simply one of the ultimate "must-sees" and does demand a rightful prestigious place in the pages of film history.

This is a ying versus yang personality clash that worked for many years on the big stage as a successful vaudeville comedy duo who were at the top of their respective games for decades but as with any good wine it will eventually go bad if left in the proverbial sun too long. Willy Clark (Walter Matthau) and Al Lewis (George Burns) begrudgingly agree at the bequest of Willy's stage manager nephew Ben Clark (Richard Benjamin) to get together for a reunion performance of their greatest comedy skits. Both aging comedians blame the other one for their eventual falling out so the feat of getting them back on the same stage is left to Willy's nephew Ben.

Willy is a crusty old "glass half empty" entertainer who likes to feel like he is the main attraction while his old comedy partner Al is a more confident and healthier "glass half full" entertainer.

The film was originally a stage production of Neil Simon and brought back to the big screen and directed with some down to earth pizazz by director Herbert Ross. It's alight hearted message that still resonates almost fifty (50) years later with the message for all old friends which is "let bygones be bygones". Most film goers were rooting for these two old octogenarian vaudeville performers to reconcile and make one big splash on the live stage.

No spoilers here. It's a warm hearted with good intentions film well worth watching at least twice. I give it a 7 out of 10 IMDB rating.

THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1975) ***1/2 Walter Matthau, George Burns, Richard Benjamin. (Cameos: Steve Allen and Phyllis Diller). Extremely funny and warm-hearted adaptation of Neil Simon's play about two stubborn vaudevillians teaming up one last time for a tv special despite the fact they haven't spoken to one another in years. Matthau is a riot ("Ehnntaaaahhh!") but Burns, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, resurrected his career and became an icon in entertainment. Incidentally, Burns took this role when his best friend, Jack Benny (who was initially cast), died. Look for small roles by Howard Hesseman and F.

Murray Abraham.

A fairly good film, but slack editing a and a rambling script stops this from achieving greater things.

A good performance (as usual) by Matthau as a grump, but especially good was that of George Burns, with some fantastic one-liners and acidic put downs - his timing and deadpan delivery was excellent. Although maybe the physical side was a bit miscast (Matthau towers over Burns), the verbal performances were great and made up for it.

After all the huffing and puffing the actual 'Doctor' sketch was not all that good, a shame that when compared to the rest of the dialogue, the wit was missing from it.

Enjoyable for a one-off viewing, be prepared to fidget at times but perseverence is rewarded.

6/10.

One of Neil Simon's more accessible & enjoyable screen adaptions. Two old style vaudeville stars agree to reform for a TV special, even though off-screen they hate each other's guts. And it's up to Richard Benjamin, (Matthau's nephew & hard working TV agent), to somehow get them to bury their differences just for this one shot.

A lovely story made perfect for both Matthau & Burns. To my shame I haven't seen many of Burns' old movies and after seeing him shine so brightly here makes me feel I've missed out on a wonderfully talented gentleman.

Matthau is always in top form in these kind of Simon comedies: notably Plaza Suite & The Odd Couple. Matthau works best with Jack Lemmon but the exception is made big style in this movie with Burns sweeping the floor (and the honours) with all before him.

The comedy is gentle rather than slapstick or too kinetic, which really matches the acting qualities of the two ageing stars. The script in general moves at a steady pace in spite of the fact the backdrop involves the fast moving, cut-throat world of TV programming.

The last 30 minutes becomes slightly more dramatic and the satire is more biting than earlier. But the film never runs out of steam or moves out of focus. Neither stars dominate the screen although it's fair to say that Matthau's physical presence sometimes over powers the frail old man of Burns, and yet the elder statesman returns the favour with a much more intelligent & humourous choice of lines.

A great film which I heartily recommend to anyone who likes gentle comedies, great script and wonderful acting

****/*****

The Sunshine Boys is one of my favorite feel good movies. I first saw it when it as the Christmas attraction at Radio City Music Hall when it first came out and loved it ever since. I ended up seeing it 6 times in the theaters, and if it was playing today I'd go out to see it again.

Now a lot of the reviews here mentioned the wonderful performances of the leads. Matthau was brilliant, but had the misfortune of being nominated against Jack Nicholson's Oscar winning performance of Randall P. MacMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest. Burns did win, though Richard Benjiman deserved at least to be nominated as well. Even the smallest roles were played to perfection, like Fritz Feld auditioning for the potato chips commercial.

Which brings me to my reason for reviewing this film, the direction of the greatly underrated Herbert Ross. Ross who previously brought a two person play, "The Owl And The Pussycat" to the screen and made a full movie out of it, does it again. He opens the plays out without making them look like a photographic stage play. He fleashens out the story and the characters.

Here we're 20 minutes into the film before we get to the scene that opens the play, where Ben Clark comes to see his uncle and tell him about the comedy special. Though there are dialogue from the play during the first twenty minutes, the sequence itself is totally new. A few years ago I did see at the broadway revival of the play with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, which was wonderful. But I think that Ross and screenwriter, playwright Simon improved on it. It's just a wonderful film.

The lead characters in this film are rather annoying bickering old men and therefore they are hard to like, however Walter Matthau and George Burns do a good job playing them. It is rather predictable stuff, and lacking in witty and funny moments, especially for the par of a Neil Simon script. Yet, the quality of the acting makes the film watchable, and there are some quite good humorous bits - just not quite enough, especially considering how slow the film is to build up. Burns won an Academy Award for his performance, and even if he perhaps did not deserve to win it, he certainly deserved the nomination. This is a film to watch because of the acting, rather than the plot or the abilities of the director.

I remember originally seeing this film at Radio City Music Hall when it came out. I didn't really understand the humor back then, but this movie can make me laugh out loud.

With all due respect to George Burns (RIP), Walter Matthau really deserved the Oscar for this film. His performance is amazing--given the fact that he was 20 years younger than his character, Willie Clark. His mannerisms are first-rate. ("You know what kind of songs he wrote? Sh*t!" and when speaking to the Spanish-speaking guy at the front desk: "No! No! No enchilada!!") Absolutely hilarious!

Kudos to Richard Benjamin, who played straight man to Matthau.

I just wish this was on DVD, because my VHS recording is getting a bit old.

I had no interest in seeing the remake with Woody Allen, because in no way can it match the original.

Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE set up a model for many of his later plays. Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were the unsuitably paired roommates in the original, the former being picky and neat, the latter being slovenly and loose. Simon would rewrite (less successfully) the play in the 1990s as THE NEW ODD COUPLE, with female roommates. He made it a mixed couple (a woman with her daughter, and a man) in THE GOODBYE GIRLS. He also gave it an additional twist in 1973 with THE SUNSHINE BOYS, a Broadway hit starring Jack Alberson and Sam Levine as Al Lewis and Willie Clark, the aged, semi-retired Vaudevillians. Here the "apartment" problem is reduced to a teaming of two men who can't stand each other. The 1976 film starred Walter Matthau as Willie, and George Burns as Al.

In actuality, Al probably does not think totally badly of Willie - Willie is pathological on the subject of Al. First Al had little habits, such as accidentally spitting slightly when pronouncing words beginning with the letter "t", and slightly jabbing Willie with his index finger, on stage. Secondly, Al retired when his wife died. Willie was not ready to retire (and has been forcing his nephew and agent, Ben (Richard Benjamin) to try to get him jobs in commercials. But Willie can't remember lines unless they are funny, and keeps flubbing them. So he rarely is able to stay to the end of a rehearsal for a commercial.

Ben is asked to get the two back together for a live scene of their most famous sketch on a television show about American Comedy. He does bring Al to see Willie, and the sparks begin flying, as neither can figure out what the other is doing (and this is just in rehearsal. On top of that, Willie is insisting on changes (minor ones, but they throw off Al) such as saying "ENTER!!!" when Al knocks on the door. The initial rehearsal is a failure, but Ben manages to get them to the taping of the show. The question is if they will complete the scene in the finished program or will Willie wring Al's neck?

The three leads, Matthau, Burns, and Benjamin, do very well with the one-liners, frequently reminiscent of vaudeville patter (example: "Chest pains...I'm getting chest pains Uncle Willie. Every Thursday I come here and get chest pains!" "So, come on Fridays!"). Benjamin strives to prove his deep affection for his uncle, although Matthau's rough outer shell makes it difficult (he only smooths down when he discusses the glory days of vaudeville). Matthau has a little better grasp on reality (at first) than Burns, who seems senile by his repeating himself - but in actuality Matthau's sense of rejection by the world that once applauded him make him less willing to behave properly. Burns is not senile - he takes things slowly. But he seems far happier in accepting his retirement.

I call this a final "Voyage of Discovery" for our modern Lewis and Clark. Al and Willie transcend their old skits, as they gradually end up realizing that they have more in common in their old age than they thought. Even the irascible Willie admits that Al may be (to him) a pain in the ass, but he was a funny man.

Burns was not the original choice for the part of "Al Lewis" (supposedly Dale of the team Smith and Dale). Jack Benny was. Benny probably would have done a good job, but ill-health forced him out (he died in 1975). Burns (whose last involvement in any film was in THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC in 1956 as the narrator) turned in such a fine performance that he got the "Oscar" for best supporting actor, and was to have a career in movies in the next decade in such films as OH GOD!; OH GOD, YOU DEVIL; and GOING IN STYLE. He died in 1996 age 100, having proved that he was more than just a brilliant straight man for his wife Gracie Allan.

The Neil Simon's Sunshine Boys starring Walter Matthau and George Burns is a funny comedy on the strange bond to the life and its shortness, but the laughter always bitter taste. Seeing Willy Clark(Matthau) and Al Lewis(Burns) two big theatrical comedy actors now reduced on the imbecility from the hard and unceasing old age you can feel only anger and blue. Willy not ever surrender and continue to look work, while Al is tired for players and he is retired to the country in the house to his daughter. The couple in his old time was truly funny and harmony, but out the scene was a continue squabble and to quarrel, and for eleven years after their broken they not talk between. Now if they would work, they must return together another time for do one of his best old sketch for a comedy story TV show. The meets is explosive and liberating for the old questions…. The Neil Simon's screenplay give a certain corrosive spirit to the story and the melancholy and blue overwhelming the many gags and laughter succeeded to generate a good mix also thanks to a great couple Walter Matthu(Nomination Academy Award as Best Actor) and George Burns(Won the Academy Award as Best Support Actor). The two actors are very believable and real and the their harmony seems almost as they real work together for all that time and that realty they not bear between them. The movie is very touching also for its all consuming reality as the story is narrate and how the report Love-Heat that bind the two actors is totally real part to the strange but at the same time ordinarily comprehensible things to the life. My rate is 7.

in one of Neil Simon's best plays. Creaky, cranky ex-Vaudeville stars played by Walter Matthau and George Burns are teaming up for a TV comedy special. The problem is they haven't even SEEN each other in over a decade. Full of zippy one liners and inside showbiz jokes, this story flies along with a steady stream of humor. Good work also by Richard Benjamin as the harried nephew, Rosetta LeNoire as the nurse, and Howard Hesseman as the TV commercial director. Steve Allen and Phyllis Diller appear as themselves. Trivia note: The opening montage contains footage from Hollywood Revue of 1929 and shows Marie Dressler, Bessie Love, Polly Moran, Cliff Edwards, Charles King, Gus Edwards, and the singing Brox Sisters.

An old vaudeville team of Willy Clark (Walter Matthau) and Al Lewis (George Burns) were one of the best known but they broke up hating each other. Over 20 years later they agree to get together for a TV special...but find out they STILL hate each other. Willy's nephew/agent (Richard Benjamin) tries to get them to work together.

A big hit in its day and it won George Burns an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I (somewhat) liked it. It was written by Neil Simon so its non-stop one-liners. Some of it was funny but making jokes of Willy and Al's senility was NOT. Also I never liked Matthau. I never thought he was a good actor and something about him just rubbed me the wrong way. Also his character here is so caustic you get sick of him quickly. All that aside this was fun. Burns is just great tossing off one-liners with ease and even Matthau was good matching him. Their verbal battles are the best sequences in the movie. Also Benjamin is very good as Willy's nephew trying to get the two of them to work with each other. For me it's worth seeing for Burns alone. This jump started his career in a big way and two years later he had ANOTHER hit with "Oh God". So, this is good. Just good--not great. Matthau's character really makes this hard to love. I give it a 7.

The Start is a bit dragged out but the comedy is very funny with perfect timing from the actors.

Taking over roles that Jack Albertson and Sam Levene played on Broadway, Walter Matthau and George Burns play a couple of old time vaudeville comics, a team in the tradition of Joe Smith and Charles Dale who seem to have a differing outlook on life.

Walter Matthau can't stop working, the man has never learned to relax, take some time and smell the roses. He's a crotchety old cuss whose best days are behind him and his nephew and agent Richard Benjamin is finding less and less work for him.

What hurt him badly was that some 15 years earlier his partner George Burns decided to retire and spend some time with his family. A workaholic like Matthau can't comprehend it and take Burns's decision personally.

Benjamin hits on a brain storm, reunite the guys and do it on a national television special. What happens here is pretty hilarious.

The Sunshine Boys is also a sad, bittersweet story as well about old age. Matthau is on screen for most of the film, but it's Burns who got the kudos in the form of an Oscar at the ripe old age of 79.

Burns brought a bit of the personal into this film as well. As we all know he was the straight man of the wonderful comedy team of Burns&Allen who the Monty Python troop borrowed a lot from. In 1958 due to health reasons, Gracie Allen retired and George kept going right up to the age of 100. Or at least pretty close to as an active performer.

The Sunshine Boys is based on the team of Smith&Dale however and if you like The Sunshine Boys I strongly recommend you see Two Tickets to Broadway for a look at a pair of guys who were entertaining the American public at the turn of the last century. The doctor sketch that Matthau and Burns do is directly from their material.

And I do think you will like The Sunshine Boys.

I forgot to mention--two "cranky" ex-vaudevillians to be exact.

It's the cranky humorous jibes between WALTER MATTHAU and GEORGE BURNS (in his Oscar-winning role at 79), that makes the film. The supporting cast does what they can to keep things flowing at a smooth pace, but it's really almost a two-character story with Matthau and Burns both on their toes delivering some ripe lines.

RICHARD BENJAMIN makes little impression as the nephew who comes up with the idea for a TV reunion. Matthau is the least accustomed to retirement, grudgingly stating that Burns retired "in the middle of my career." He has no use for the sort of contented retiremenet in the New Jersey suburbs that Burns has assumed, sitting around and waiting for his grandchildren to come home from school, etc.

When it's all over, and you're pretty exhausted from laughing at the jokes, you might realize there's nothing really substantial about the plot. It's sort of like The Odd Couple facing their old age. Only occasionally does it stop and reflect with a tinge of sadness about the ramifications of age--but then it moves on to the next gag.

Summing up: Good Neil Simon comedy knows how to brighten up the screen for awhile.

A hilarious Neil Simon comedy that evokes laughs from beginning to end. The late Walter Matthau is the grouchy ex-comedian who is persuaded to join together with his ex-partner (the late Oscar-winner George Burns) for a final reunion show on stage.

Benjamin Martin is Matthau's agent and nephew, and the two have just as much chemistry as Matthau and Burns. I love Matthau's grumpy character--he's just the same as he always is, and yet also very different.

Burns, as the absent-minded old man, is just as funny as Matthau.

Matthau: Want some crackers? I've got coconut, pineapple and graham.

Burns: How about a plain cracker?

Matthau: I don't got plain. I got coconut, pineapple and graham.

Burns: Okay

Matthau: They're in the cupboard in the kitchen.

Burns: Maybe later.

Or how about this:

Matthau: When I did black, the whites knew what I was saying!

You've got to see it in the movie to understand it!

All in all, a refreshingly hilarious, sweet, heartfelt, warm, believable character comedy with a heart and some of the most memorable quotes of all time.

They just don't make them like this anymore! In a time when all the newest comedies are crude, juvenile and stupid, this leans back towards the tender core of what comedy really is--funny characters, smart and funny dialogue, and grand entertainment.

One of the best buddy comedies of all time, right up there with "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," "Lethal Weapon," and "The Hard Way."

You may have a hard time finding this for rent or on TV, but trust me, it will be worth your time!

The sunishine boys proviedes an insightful look into the eyes of the director Rob Reiner. Igive it 4 bags of popcorn and two sodas. The sunishine boys proviedes an insightful look into the eyes of the director Rob Reiner. Igive it 4 bags of popcorn and two sodas. The sunishine boys proviedes an insightful look into the eyes of the director Rob Reiner. Igive it 4 bags of popcorn and two sodas.

First, an explanation: Despite my headline, I'm giving this film only 8 stars because overall this is NOT one of the best films ever made. All the criticisms registered here have valid points. Also, be warned that to enjoy the script you really need to appreciate Neil Simon's brilliance with finding the wit within real human banter. He does have a distinctively New York ear for dialogue -- especially dry, Jewish, love-suffused sarcasm -- and if you have trouble accepting sarcasm as an expression of love, then you might have trouble accepting the optimism at the heart of this movie.

So much for warnings. Here's my main point: Walter Matthau is flat-out perfect, even beyond perfect, in this movie. I have never seen him funnier, or more touching for that matter -- because at the same time that he shows us the hilariousness of this character who refuses to give up his Big Star self-image or insufferable attitudes even as his coherence is in decline, he also shows us the more vulnerable, maybe even heartbreakingly scared person inside the grouch. And he only barely shows us that sad part -- it's just enough to really get to you if you happen to be coping with your own father's or husband's mental decline right now (I mention this as a warning), but artistically, it's just enough pathos to give this character the most authentically deep roots I'm seen in possibly any film performance. This is beyond Method acting -- Matthau's performance is exquisite as character work and a pure delight as comic delivery. This is a masterpiece of comic acting.

About Richard Benjamin: I personally find his acting annoying in general, and his work in this movie is no exception -- although he has some fine moments here. ("Chicken is funny...." is one of them.) So if you like him, you should like him here, and if you don't this movie won't change your mind.

About the 1976 Oscars...I agree that Matthau was unfortunate to be up against Nicholson in "Cuckoo's Nest" that year. It was a killer year for leading-actor competition; if only there were separate Oscars for comedy and drama, then I think the Best Actor Oscars would have gone to Al Pacino for "Dog Day Afternoon" and to Walter Matthau for "The Sunshine Boys" -- not to dis Jack's fine work as McMurphy, but I think that Pacino and Matthau were each CLEARLY more masterful and astoundingly effective and downright legendary in their performances than Nicholson was that year. Also, I believe that Burns got the Supporting Actor Oscar more for sentimental reasons than for the quality of his performance -- I mean, he was good in this movie, but not THAT good. (Burns's fine-as-ever but unexceptional-in-itself return to show biz beat Brad Dourif's truly brilliant debut in "Cuckoo's Nest," not to mention Chris Sarandon's stunning debut in "Dog Day Afternoon" -- which I think proves my theory.)

Oscar theories aside, here's my bottom line review: If you like Matthau's comic acting, then see this movie and savor his powerhouse tirades and wonderful grandmother-inspired gestures, fleeting facial expressions and seemingly unscripted asides. (But if you're currently dealing with the pain of watching an old person lose his grip, then be warned that this movie might either be the comic relief you need or a dose of reality too painful to watch right now.)

I have always liked Walter Matthau, so it was very disappointing to see him in this film, made up to look much older and overacting tremendously. George Burns was much better, with his usual deadpan delivery. I suppose that this was kind of a preview of Matthau in "Grumpy Old Men". Dealing with those in their dotage, with the hearing loss, and memory loss, etc. is quite tiresome, and watching it in this movie was also quite tiresome. It is too bad, but the funny lines were not all that funny. I expected more from a Neil Simon script. Richard Benjamin was okay as the nephew/agent, and the direction was done nicely. But I was impatient for the film to end, and that pretty much says it all.

This is an amazing accomplishment for George Burns. He had not made a film for almost 40 years and had never really acted before, and yet he gave one of the most moving performances I have ever seen in a motion picture. He was the oldest performer to ever win an Academy Award for best supporting actor and I think it would behoove acting students to study his wonderful performance. Neil Simon is one of my favorite writers and I think this is his best work. Burns and Matthau make movie magic and it is a delight from start to finish to see these two old pros at work.