Unfunny endlessly stagy repetitive non joke dialog, probably career low performance by Maureen Stapleton in the first episode. Muddy photography and no music make this seem about as deadly as most of it is. Flatly directed by Arthur Hiller it's like a badly blocked stage show only with worse lighting and non chemistry between the leads, not that the characters are funny or likable. A near total loss, only the final story manages some laughs or generates any chemistry. It's more build around a situation comedy than bad dialog and Lee Grant and Matthau generate chemistry and show off comic timing. In the first two episodes Walter can't buy a laugh, a rare bad day for him.
Only opening up of the play involves some airborne shots of NYC and bridges in spots where you don't need them. Story ends goes outside then comes back in for silent curtain calls.
This is really a bad film from what mostly seems like sub par material. Hiller shows almost no imagination and with a talented cast like this he has to be blamed for the performances. And Simon at this point in his career wasn't this bad but really shows no knowledge of how to make his material work on film. My rating is all for the last episode, skip to it if you can.
Only opening up of the play involves some airborne shots of NYC and bridges in spots where you don't need them. Story ends goes outside then comes back in for silent curtain calls.
This is really a bad film from what mostly seems like sub par material. Hiller shows almost no imagination and with a talented cast like this he has to be blamed for the performances. And Simon at this point in his career wasn't this bad but really shows no knowledge of how to make his material work on film. My rating is all for the last episode, skip to it if you can.