This film is based on Neil Simon's Tony Award-nominated play and Director Herbert Ross wisely keeps the cinematic elements to a minimum and lets the script and actors do all the showcasing. Any overly artistic editing or camerawork would have distracted attention from star Walter Matthau, who demands your attention with every line, whether mumbled or shouted ("En-taaar!").
Walter Matthau had a run of great films in the mid 70's: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Front Page, The Bad News Bears and The Sunshine Boys. He won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for 'Sunshine,' his sixth nomination in that category between 1967 and 1975. This film also earned him a Lead Actor nomination for an Academy Award--his second in five years.
Surprisingly, it was his co-star George Burns who walked away with the Oscar for Supporting Actor, one I feel must have been more of a lifetime achievement award, as it was his only Oscar nomination (and first film role since 1939!). It's interesting to note that it was fellow co-star Richard Benjamin who won the Golden Globe as Supporting Actor for this film while Burns wasn't even nominated!
Three award-winning performances in a film mainly about three people; two has-been vaudevillian comedians who worked together for 43 years and now can't stand each other and a newphew/manager depserately trying to give them one more opportunity to shine.
A truly outstanding film, updated for a TV verison in 1995 starring Woody Allan and Peter Faulk and probably will be done again in 30 years with Adam Sandler and Tony Shaloub.
Sweet.
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