OUT TO SEA

They are not as old as dinosaurs, but they are elderly and grumpy and are coming to a theater near you. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the comedy duo who have demonstrated that one doesn’t have to be young to have fun or chase women, reunite, and this time, they are OUT TO SEA. Mildly amusing and formulaic, this light comedy brought laughs and appreciation to an elderly audience at the press screening.

The plot is nothing new: two single men seek rich women to marry. The most devious and cunning of the two is Charlie (Walter Matthau), a life-long bachelor who has fallen on hard times due to gambling failures at the race track. Charlie is the brother to Herb’s deceased wife. A widower, Herb (Jack Lemmon) is still grieving over the loss of his wife, but Charlie convinces Herb to get his mind off his late wife and go on a free Caribbean cruise.

On the cruise ship, Herb gets a surprise when he finds out that Charlie has signed them up as dance hosts. All dance hosts must not only dance with all the single women, but they stay in very spare accommodations at the bottom of the ship. Furthermore, the cruise director of entertainment, Gil Godwyn (STAR TREK’s Brent Spiner), is a sort of song-and-dance dictator, raised on a military base.

Romantic foils come in the form of Liz LaBreche (Dyan Cannon), a poor woman posing as a wealthy lady hoping to capture a wealthy man, and Vivian (Gloria DeHaven), a forlorn widow who has been “shanghaied” by her daughter who wants to show her a good time. Charlie woos Liz in the hopes that he will get to marry her for money, while Herb unexpectedly falls in love with Vivian while trying to avoid the tyrannical orders of Gil Godwyn. When both Liz and Vivian get frustrated with their dishonest suitors, they leave the ship when it docks. Realizing the error of their ways, the men jump ship, pursue the women, apologize, and live happily ever after.

This movie is nothing more than light entertainment for the geriatric set. With a summer filled with dinosaurs (THE LOST WORLD) and danger on the water (SPEED II), this movie stands alone to fill the needs for the over 65 generation. Matthau and Lemmon have acted together and drawn audiences for over 30 years. Other long-standing talent abounds in this movie including the sure-footed Donald O’Connor, Hal Linden and Gloria DeHaven. Veteran actress Dyan Cannon performs well and demonstrates, through wearing a bikini, that even women over 50 can look fit. In fact, Walter Matthau looks much-to-old-for Dyan’s affections.

Of course, much of the appeal is watching these two codgers display physical antics and verbal hijinks, but moral Americans will find Matthau’s potty-mouth to be unbearable. Lemmon plays a straight man, and his character is entirely respectable.

The movie has several moral messages, including telling the truth. It also encourages all to be young at heart and to let for love occur again.

It has been said that Matthau had an expensive insurance policy put out on him during the filming because he had been experiencing some health problems with his heart. The movie gives no indication that he is slowing down, but if his health does deteriorate, we may never see another pairing of this now famous comedy duo again.