I've always enjoyed Jack Lemmon's work, and his performance in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" was another in a long line of winning roles for the veteran actor. As Mel Edison, Lemmon plays a middle aged man struggling at work, already feeling pressured and losing touch with reality just a bit, who suddenly loses the job he's held all his adult life. Unemployment causes him to crash further - a process accelerated even more when his wife Edna has to get a job to support them. Edna was played by Ann Bancroft; Lemmon and Bancroft made a good team.
With its focus on Mel's mental state, this seems as if it could become a rather heavy movie, but it doesn't. Even while it deals with real issues - everything from Mel's employment crisis to the drawbacks of city life - it manages to retain a lightness that brings forth smiles and even a few laughs from the viewer. The slow turning of the tables revolving around Mel and Edna and their roles is interesting to watch. As it closes, the movie is hopeful but open-ended. Mel seems to pull himself back together, but you don't know if things will actually work out for this couple.
There's an appearance in this by Sylvester Stallone that's a curiosity more than anything. "Rocky" wouldn't appear until a year later, so Stallone at the time of this movie was a basically unknown actor, who had a minor and brief role (listed in the credits as merely "Youth in Park) that he performed well, but who would have known that a year later he'd suddenly be a mega-star, nominated for an Oscar as best actor for his role in a movie that would win an Oscar for best picture. Stallone fans might want to watch this just for the few minutes he's on screen.
But Jack Lemmon is the highlight here, and the real reason to watch this movie. (7/10)
With its focus on Mel's mental state, this seems as if it could become a rather heavy movie, but it doesn't. Even while it deals with real issues - everything from Mel's employment crisis to the drawbacks of city life - it manages to retain a lightness that brings forth smiles and even a few laughs from the viewer. The slow turning of the tables revolving around Mel and Edna and their roles is interesting to watch. As it closes, the movie is hopeful but open-ended. Mel seems to pull himself back together, but you don't know if things will actually work out for this couple.
There's an appearance in this by Sylvester Stallone that's a curiosity more than anything. "Rocky" wouldn't appear until a year later, so Stallone at the time of this movie was a basically unknown actor, who had a minor and brief role (listed in the credits as merely "Youth in Park) that he performed well, but who would have known that a year later he'd suddenly be a mega-star, nominated for an Oscar as best actor for his role in a movie that would win an Oscar for best picture. Stallone fans might want to watch this just for the few minutes he's on screen.
But Jack Lemmon is the highlight here, and the real reason to watch this movie. (7/10)