In this film version of Neil Simon's celebrated play, Jack Lemmon, devastated by the break-up of his marriage, packs his sinuses and his nervous tics and moves in with happily divorced Walter Matthau. While Lemmon is the finicky housewife (crustless sandwiches, coasters for drinks, nifty hoover technique), Matthau is the arch slob (brimming ashtrays, unmade bed, linguini on the walls), and they inevitably drive each other nuts. Apart from a cringe-making scene featuring two English girls, this comedy has weathered well, and it bristles with one-liners timed to perfection by the two leads, the American cinema's best comedy duo since Buster and Keaton.

In New York, Felix, a neurotic news writer who just broke up with his wife, is urged by his chaotic friend Oscar, a sports journalist, to move in with him, but their lifestyles are as different as night and day are, so Felix's ideas about housekeeping soon begin to irritate Oscar.