SnoopyStyle
Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) is a sideline camera man at a Cleveland Browns football game. He gets run over by one of the players. He is generally fine recovering in a hospital. His sleazy brother-in-law Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau) arrives with a scheme to sue for a big pay day. Harry agrees to fake his injuries. Harry still pines for his ex-wife and Willie's sister Sandy. Football player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson feels guilty for putting Harry in a wheelchair.This is the initial pairing of Lemmon and Matthau. With Billy Wilder's sharp words, this should be epic. While it has a few laughs, this is not the cinematic icon like their other collaborations that most would remember. The two guys have a nice chemistry. It's not fully taken advantage yet but these guys are showing some potential. They just need more screen time together. Lemmon spends more time with the football player.
studioAT
In any other hands the two lead characters could have been pretty unlikable, after all they are pulling off a scam. However, in with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the parts it become a comedic master class and a classic black comedy.Matthau won an Oscar for his role here and it's easy to see why. In every scene he sparkles, playing the sort of lovable grump that he played so well.As with all their collaborations the chemistry between him and Lemmon makes the film, and more the compensates for the slower moments in the film.'The Odd Couple' maybe the film that these two are most remembered for in terms of their collaborations, but 'The Fortune Cookie' is well worth watching.
JLRMovieReviews
Jack Lemmon, sports cameraman covering a football game, get tackled by player. That's the headline, and what the spectators saw. What they don't know is that he is instigating a personal injury lawsuit - at least, under the influence of his attorney brother-in-law, whose reputation has earned him the nickname "Whiplash," played mercilessly by Walter Matthau. The elaborate hoax must be maintained to get a million dollars. But detective Cliff Osmond has his duty to watch the "victim in question" at all times. Such begins a very dark and cleverly-written movie by Billy Wilder and collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. Jack Lemmon is one of my favorite actors, who can play Mr. Everyman, but it is Walter Matthau who literally steals the picture out from under everyone else. Lurene Tuttle as Jack's mother and Walter's mother-in-law has a great bit as she cries hysterically throughout the film and Cliff Osmond gives a very believable performance as the devoted detective. But when Walter is in the scene, he takes over. Ironically during the making of this film, he suffered a heart attack. But you wouldn't know it from his full force, no holds barred and loving-every-minute-of-the-kill performance that won him a very deserved Oscar. But what happens? Does Jack Lemmon get a last-minute conscience? Do they get a million dollar check? Jack's wife, who left him for another man, shows up –oddly enough- when she hears of this lawsuit. And then, there's the football player who's miserable for running into Jack and is almost the only decent person in the whole movie. What you're about to do is go ONDEMAND and find the fortune cookie. Confucious say beware of people named "Whiplash" but enjoy yourself.
kenjha
A greedy lawyer convinces his cameraman brother-in-law to sue after the latter is inadvertently hit by a football player while filming an NFL game. In the first of several films to pair Lemmon and Mathau, the actors play roles typical of their collaborations, with the former a decent, neurotic fellow and the latter a shyster. After "The Apartment," Wilder never quite achieved the success he experienced earlier in his great career as he was churning out one classic after another. This is a product of his declining years - not bad but not very funny either and far too long for a comedy. Whatever happened to West, the attractive actress who plays Lemmon's ex-wife?
AD
