VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Vonia "The Sunshine Boys" (1975) Only a few laughs; Once partners in Vaudeville, Now taxing to watch Two old men feud for what? I call this, "The Cloudy Boys". (Tanka (短歌 tan-kah) poems are short poems that are five lines long, with the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format.) #Tanka #PoemReview

FilmCriticLalitRao 'The Sunshine Boys' is about the imminent reunion of two vaudeville era comedians. However, it is not so easy to organize a successful creative collaboration between two volatile actors who have not spoken in two decades. This is not a film for viewers who don't appreciate slow films. It is neither a slow film per se nor does it feature a quick succession of events. This Herbert Ross film starts in a slow manner but gathers pace as the story progresses. If one says that the life of an old person is difficult, one can only imagine how difficult would the lives of two creative old men be. There is a lot for audiences as a lot of questions are raised about actors especially their lives and acting methods. It is said that old people are left to fend for themselves. However, one has to appreciate the dedication with which a young nephew takes care of his old uncle. Lastly, a viewer would remember this film as an excellent creative endeavor aimed at depicting true feelings of actors who are past their prime.

ShadeGrenade Without doubt, one of my all-time favourite funny men has to be the late, great Walter Matthau. That marvellous deadpan face combined with his unmistakable, gawky walk used to have me in fits of laughter. He was at his best in Neil Simon comedies such as 'The Odd Couple' ( 1968 ), and, of course, this, also based on a stage play. He plays 'Willy Clark' an elderly comedian who, back in the days of vaudeville, was half of a popular double act with 'Al Lewis' ( George Burns ). Lewis retired at the height of their fame, feeling the act had gone about as far as it could. Willy disagreed, and tried to keep working but failed to make it as a solo act ( an audition for a commercial for Krumpies' potato chips goes wrong when Willy nearly chokes on the things ). The two men have not spoken in years. Al is now in a home while Willy lives on his own. Ben ( the excellent Richard Benjamin ), Willy's nephew and agent, tries to bring the pair together to recreate a classic dentist sketch for a television tribute to the vaudeville era. But the acrimony has not died with the passage of time. Al annoys Willy in other ways, such as prodding him in the chest with his finger during arguments and unintentionally spitting on him. When they meet after all these years, the insults fly thick and fast...Directed by Herbert Ross, this lovely movie saw the welcome return of George Burns to the big screen. His laid-back delivery contrasts nicely with Matthau's more manic approach. "If you were on fire you still wouldn't be hot!" he tells Willy at one point. His Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor' enabled him to make a long overdue comeback, appearing in, amongst other things, Larry Gelbart's 'Oh God!' ( 1977 ). Lee Meredith, the busty nurse in the dentist sketch, was 'Ulla' in Mel Brooks' 'The Producers' ( 1968 ).What you have in this film are two wonderfully funny men sparring on screen, each equipped with an arsenal of witty Neil Simon dialogue. What more could you want?

Bill Slocum Much like the comedy duo of its title, "The Sunshine Boys" has become a forgotten classic 30-odd years later. It's hardly mentioned alongside other great film comedies of the 1970s. This makes no sense given the singular specialness of this film, perhaps the best Neil Simon ever wrote.Walter Matthau plays Willy Clark, once half of a legendary vaudeville comedy known as Lewis and Clark, now a bitter 73-year-old solo act who can't get a job in a potato chip commercial. His nephew and agent Ben (Richard Benjamin) is sure he can get work if Willy will only agree to reunite with his estranged partner Al Lewis (George Burns) for an ABC-TV celebration of show business nostalgia.Nostalgia is what "Sunshine Boys" has going for it in spades, right from the start when a series of 1920s film clips showcasing various entertainers from long ago flickers before us to the accompaniment of Cole Porter's "Be A Clown". Then there's the film's present-day setting in Manhattan, where flared trousers and wide polyester ties abound. The periods collide in Willy's glorious mess of a Manhattan apartment, where framed photos and cartoons of long-dead celebrities stare out from the walls at lurid tabloid headlines and empty Zabar grocery bags. If you were alive in the 1970s like me, you might even feel like you were in that apartment.Willy clearly has been living there too long. He's sleeping in front of the television when the kettle in the other room boils. Willy wakes up and picks up the phone."Hello, who is this?" A pause. "Never mind, it's the tea."Old men living alone can be sad material in almost anyone else's hands, but Simon's deft wit and unerring feeling for character turns this adaptation of his 1972 stage hit into comedy gold. The amazing thing about "The Sunshine Boys" is how much it rubs your noses in Willy's almost existential condition without turning you off at all. "89 years old and just like that, he dies of nothing'" Willy says of one old songwriting friend, before deciding the man probably died from writing a song that rhymed "lady" with "baby".Burns won an Oscar for his understated performance as the gentle but steely Lewis, but it's Matthau who brings this one home, his make-up and proud but ragged bearing really selling you on the idea he was already 73 when he made this. Willy is obnoxious in the extreme, fully deserving Ben's description "crazy freakin' old man", but you root for him throughout, enjoying his small victories even when they come at the cost of others' patience. His lines kill you, too, especially when he's trying to kill Lewis, for whom the TV reunion turns out to be a bad idea."You're out of touch!" Willy tells Lewis at one point. "I'm still in demand. I'm still hot!""If this room was on fire you wouldn't be hot," Lewis replies.Director Herbert Ross shoots everything in a very casual and understated way, with low lighting and mid-range shots even in emotional moments so as to leave room for the comedy and the film's overall zen message of grace through quiet acceptance. You never get the feeling you are watching a movie, one of "The Sunshine Boys" many charms, and Ross's direction, like the acting of the three principals, goes a long way toward achieving that end.Comedy is hard, especially when the subjects are people watching life pass them by, but "The Sunshine Boys" makes it all seem a pleasure, because, for us watching, it is.