The Odd Couple (The Odd Couple)

Production and year: USA, 1968 Original title: The Odd Couple Genre: comedy Director: Gene Sacks Screenplay: Neil Simon Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler Medical topic: anankastic personality Description: One of the most interesting aspects of psychiatry for me has always been the anankastic personality. Not obsessive-compulsive disorder, but this specific clinical entity—one that doesn’t interfere with normal functioning, without obsessions or compulsions, yet so similar to OCD. So I decided to celebrate the day I passed my psychiatry exam by watching the brilliant comedy titled "The Odd Couple," which is precisely about this condition. Felix (Lemmon) is a very interesting character. Obsessed with cleanliness and prone to hypochondria, the man is abandoned by his wife because of his personality. He attempts suicide, though very unsuccessfully—just as he’s about to jump from the window of a hotel room, he’s stopped by pain in his lower back, which strikes the moment he steps onto the windowsill. Instead, he sends a telegram to his loved ones threatening suicide. Instead, however, he visits his friends, with whom he regularly plays poker for fun. Oscar (Matthau), a divorced journalist in whose home the men gather, knowing of Felix’s difficult circumstances, offers him a place to live together. Felix considered himself a better cook than his wife, a better “cleaner”; he was “allergic” to everything and constantly performed various procedures to “clear his ears.” When he moves into Oscar’s apartment, the situation gets even more interesting. None of the poker games go smoothly anymore; Felix installs an air purifier and washes the cards so they don’t smell bad. He’s constantly cleaning, driving Oscar into a rage. The plot really picks up when two divorced British women show up at the apartment... A very cool movie with a great sense of humor and an interesting portrayal of an antisocial personality. Unfortunately, it drags on a bit.