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Movies / On DVD / Buddy Buddy
Buddy Buddy

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Buddy Buddy (1982)

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62 %
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Reviews Counted:13

Fresh:8

Rotten:5

Average Rating:5.1/10

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: This black comedy stars the comic duo of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a pair of antagonists. Trabucco (Matthau) is a hitman who, having already dispatched two of the witnesses to an act of... This black comedy stars the comic duo of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a pair of antagonists. Trabucco (Matthau) is a hitman who, having already dispatched two of the witnesses to an act of criminal fraud is about to ice the third, mobster Rudy Gambola (Fil Formicola) before he can testify. As he makes his final preparations, he's interrupted by the sounds of Victor Clooney (Lemmon) trying to hang himself in the next hotel room, depressed over his wife Celia's (Paula Prentiss), romance with her sex therapist, Dr. Zuckerbroot (Klaus Kinski). Annoyed, the hitman binds and gags Clooney, who nevertheless escapes, and decides to switch to a leap from the hotel ledge. The desperate Trabucco finally agrees to take Clooney to see his wife at the clinic, simply and literally to get rid of him, a task which proves much more difficult than the hitman could ever have imagined. Despite occasional flashes of the Wilder wit, "...premature ejaculation means always having to say you're sorry," and Lemmon screaming "Apocalypse Now," as he tries to set himself aflame, the film is a grim, tiresome, finale to one of the great directorial careers. [More]

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss, Klaus Kinski

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss, Klaus Kinski, Ed Begley, Dana Elcar, Miles Chapin, Michael Ensign, Joan Shawlee, Frances Bay

Director: Billy Wilder

Director: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Billy Wilder, I. A. L. Diamond, Francis Veber
Producer: Jay Weston
Composer: Lalo Schifrin

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Buddy Buddy

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1 - 14 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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There is some byplay with doubles, disguises and mistaken identity, but the rest is all bland Panavision, dreary back projection, and laboured dialogue.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Wilder helming the classic comic pairing of Matthau and Lemmon is always going to be difficult to dismiss, but it has to be said that all involved had seen better days at the time this got made.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A slight, but amusing, black farce.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/14/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Easy to sleep on.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/15/07
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Another amusing pairing of Lemmon and Matthau as mismatched personalities.

comment Comment
03/04/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

Nice to see Lemmon and Matthau again, but this is hardly their finest hour.

comment Comment
02/10/06
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
07/08/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Not top Billy Wilder, but worthwhile to see Lemmon and Matthau.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

This movie is appalling. It made me want to rub my eyes.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/09/03
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/20/03
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Instead of the sentimental cop-out that usually closes his films, Wilder has isolated an impossibly tiny center of real value and belief, an optimism that is extremely moving in its microscopic dimensions.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Slight but irresistible.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 14 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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