The Fortune Cookie

Released Oct 19, 1966

2 hr. 5 min.

Comedy

Drama

Romance

List

96%

28 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

While taping a football game, cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) ends up slightly injured after a collision with star player "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich). When Hinkle's scheming brother-in-law, lawyer Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau), catches wind of the incident, he wants Hinkle to feign paralysis to scam the insurance company. Hinkle agrees to the plan, if only to win back his ex (Judi West). But Hinkle's growing friendship with a guilt-ridden Jackson has him questioning the ploy.

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Critics Consensus

Uniting Jack Lemmon and a never-better Walter Matthau on the screen for the first time, The Fortune Cookie continues director Billy Wilder's winning streak of sweet comedies with a nice snap.

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Alec B

There's a lot of unrealized potential here but it's worth seeing for Matthau's fantastic performance.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/08/24

Full Review

Audience Member

I usually love Billy Wilder films. And while Matthau is great and deserved his Oscar, getting through this film is really a labor. I think a big part of the problem is the ‘Chapters’ announcing like book chapters, each new segment. The effect is thst it just feels endless, like trying to get through a book you are not interested in, but required to finish.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/21/23

Full Review

Lanfranco C

A nice, but sad commedy with an end of hope.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/06/23

Full Review

Tony S

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and a few others you'll recognize from television fame. An amusing story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Mark A

Forget everything else. Walter Matthau steals everything in this movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/16/22

Full Review

john g

very funny movie - great lines - Lemmon and Matthau are spot on.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Billy Wilder

Director

Jack Lemmon

Harry Hinkle

Walter Matthau

Willie Gingrich

Ron Rich

Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson

Cliff Osmond

Purkey

Judi West

Sandy Hinkle

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James Powers

Hollywood Reporter

Matthau, with the role of a lifetime at his hands, seizes it and makes it wonderful. As the incompetent shyster, Matthau snarls, cajoles, is breezy and sniveling by turns.

Oct 22, 2018

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

...another bittersweet comedy commentary on contemporary US mores.

Aug 15, 2007

Full Review

Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Wildly funny in spots...

Aug 15, 2007

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

There’s something faintly dispirited about it all, as if the movie — or at least the guy who made it — felt a little guilt about the “victimless crime” his movie is about, and a racist society’s victims he finally got around to acknowledging

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 7, 2023

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

... the team of Wilder, and his equally insightful collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, who manage to shine a light on the nasty and dark side of human nature, as well as race issues. And boy does it feel so very modern.

Rated: B+

Aug 27, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The first joint Lemmon-Matthau effort might be the funniest.

Rated: 3.5/4

Oct 13, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

While taping a football game, cameraman Harry Hinkle (Jack Lemmon) ends up slightly injured after a collision with star player "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich). When Hinkle's scheming brother-in-law, lawyer Willie Gingrich (Walter Matthau), catches wind of the incident, he wants Hinkle to feign paralysis to scam the insurance company. Hinkle agrees to the plan, if only to win back his ex (Judi West). But Hinkle's growing friendship with a guilt-ridden Jackson has him questioning the ploy.

Director: Billy Wilder
Production Co: Mirisch Company
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 19, 1966, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 7, 2019

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