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The Sunshine Boys

Play trailer Poster for The Sunshine Boys PG 1975 1h 51m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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69% Tomatometer 39 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Al Lewis (George Burns) and Willy Clark (Walter Matthau) are a pair of feuding vaudeville comedians (Lewis and Clark, naturally) who performed together for 47 years before finally calling it quits. A network genius then has the brilliant idea of reuniting the duo for a TV special about the history of comedy. Once the reunion is on, the sparks and one-liners start to fly with equal speed. But can Lewis and Clark put aside their differences long enough to collect one last paycheck?
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The Sunshine Boys

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Critics Consensus

Thanks to the sparkling chemistry between its stars and Herbert Ross' gentle direction, this sweetly ambling comedy ranks among Neil Simon's finest screen adaptations.

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Critics Reviews

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Clyde Gilmour Toronto Star Feb 25
There are some laughs in this movie, but not enough of them, and too many of them are dyspeptic in tone and style. Go to Full Review
Pauline Kael The New Yorker 10/20/2023
The only part of the movie I enjoyed was the footage during the titles. Go to Full Review
Kevin Kelly Boston Globe 06/14/2021
Somehow, at base, it's oddly offensive. Old age is mocked with malice, or so it seems. Go to Full Review
Steve Warren The Barb (Atlanta) 05/09/2023
The result is a touching, sensitive story that you can hardly stop laughing at. Go to Full Review
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 06/14/2021
3/5
The sole point of calm in this work that constantly confuses loud for funny is George Burns, who underplays every scene and walks off with what accolades there are. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Harrison R 09/20/2024 Laughed exactly once, when they finally do the damn sketch. I saw multiple moments of awkwardness and irritability, but nothing else funny. See more Alec B 02/27/2024 Good performances but the script is overwritten and should have been funnier. See more 08/28/2021 The premise is simple: two old men were members of a vaudeville duo decades ago and broke up acrimoniously, but now the nephew of one wants them to reunite for a television special to showcase one of their acts. Reluctantly, they agree, though they had not met or spoken in twenty years. Once together, however, they find they still dislike one another. The big problem with the story is that it was written in the 1970's and takes place contemporaneously, while vaudeville effectively died out many years before the storyline's breakup would have taken place. Also, Matthau's character is a nasty man-nasty to everyone, even the nurse who takes care of him when he becomes ill. He's supposed to be the protagonist of the story, but I found no reason whatever to like him, or for anyone to want to have anything to do with him. The story would have been more credible if the televised reunion had fallen through. See more 04/28/2021 A comic masterpiece! See more jon c 11/08/2020 History has been filled with some of the best comedy talents from the beginning of the 20th century; silent films, radio, vaudeville shows, broadway, and television for 47 years two men were the funniest duo there ever was in show business the late Walter Matthau and George Burns just so happened to be named Lewis and Clark, much like the explorers navigating the new world, the thing is though they parted ways and can't stand one another Richard Benjamin plays Lewis' nephew who works at ABC tv station so a pitch is brought up to get Lewis and Clark back together for an hour and a half segment Matthau is brilliant as always and Burns is just so adorably likeable even if their two characters are constantly at each other's throats it takes an hour and 10 min for things to finally get moving, if you can deal with Lewis and Clark bickering during the first half but these two comedic actors have such impeccable chemistry goes to show that even two talents who can't stand one another with such ounces of hostility can still learn so much See more steve d 07/16/2020 Really fun and extremely funny. See more Read all reviews
The Sunshine Boys

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Movie Info

Synopsis Al Lewis (George Burns) and Willy Clark (Walter Matthau) are a pair of feuding vaudeville comedians (Lewis and Clark, naturally) who performed together for 47 years before finally calling it quits. A network genius then has the brilliant idea of reuniting the duo for a TV special about the history of comedy. Once the reunion is on, the sparks and one-liners start to fly with equal speed. But can Lewis and Clark put aside their differences long enough to collect one last paycheck?
Director
Herbert Ross
Screenwriter
Neil Simon
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 16, 1975, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 21, 2016
Runtime
1h 51m
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