Last of the Red Hot Lovers

PG

1972

1 hr. 40 min.

Comedy

List

29%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

Barney Cashman (Alan Arkin) is a successful restaurant owner and family man who, after 22 years of marriage, decides it's high time for him to have an affair. Taking advantage of his mother's empty apartment, he attempts to lure various women over for sex, but his efforts prove more than a little bumbling. A hard-living type (Sally Kellerman) openly derides him, a young actress (Paula Prentiss) proves too insane and his best friend's wife (Renee Taylor) is offended by the very idea.

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Audience Member

I LOVED THIS MOVIE, those who didnt', didn't get it. OR have no boundries, so they Wouldn't appreciate it. LMAO Bravo

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

The movie was ... trying to be red hot. But not. Still, a young Alan Arkin was mildly amusing. He's still exactly the same dude/character.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

This movie, written by Neil Simon, is obviously adapted from a stage play. Not much is changed for this film version and that helps and hurts it. Most of the movie, which is nearly all dialogue as opposed to action, takes place in one room. This does allow for wonderful character development but also sometimes brought on a feeling of "Get on with it!" The cast is fantastic. Alan Arkin is perfect as the bored middle-class restauranteur who haplessly searches for the right woman to have an affair with. You can still think adultery is wrong and feel bad for Arkin's character because he plays up frustrated ennui so well. Sally Kellerman, Renee Taylor and Paula Prentiss play the women he meets, usually by chance. Each is pretty much a stereotype but a fully fleshed-out one so you believe them as people. Quirky is a good word to describe everybody in this movie. Although the film is a comedy, at its core it is an examination of how people deal with disappointment and stagnation in their lives. I think comedy often does a better job of showing the nature of the human experience than straight-up drama does.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

This was a Neil Simon play I wasn't crazy about even when I first read it. Its dialogue is not as witty as others, and its plot seems a little shaky, especially at the end. However, Alan Arkin plays the part very well and makes it much more enjoyable a watch than it was a read. I'd never call it one of Simon's best, but it's not a bad watch.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

If you like Neil Simon, Alan Arkin and films that take place mostly in one room like the plays that inspired them, you'll enjoy this. Cinematically, I hear all the time how these types of films are terrible because they look like a play that was filmed--I don't have a problem with that. If it had never been filmed, I'd never have seen it and been denyed an enjoyable performance by Arkin.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Gene Saks

Director

Alan Arkin

Barney Cashman

Sally Kellerman

Elaine

Paula Prentiss

Bobbi Michele

Renee Taylor

Jeanette

Bella Bruck

Cashier

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Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - Am I Appealing To You?

2:01

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - I Think About Dying

1:48

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - The $20 Loan

2:04

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - I'm Goofy Today

2:06

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - Bleeding Lip

2:07

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - I Married An Ape

2:12

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - Say Something

0:59

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - I'm In My Underwear!

1:30

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - You Smelled Your Fingers

1:36

Last of the Red Hot Lovers: Official Clip - Melancholia

1:47

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Variety Staff

Variety

Alan Arkin, a very funny man with some personal mannerisms that don't always fit the role, makes good use of all of them here, even those nervous eyes.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

A few laughs are wrung out of the situation, and Sally Kellerman provides more as a raunchy lady on a fish diet, but it's all 'heart', of course. Pretty dire.

Feb 9, 2006

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Roger Greenspun

New York Times

Alan Arkin does everything wrong that can be done to the role of Barney Cashman, denying him any hint of ebullience or vitality, and leaving him only a loud mouth, a clumsy manner and an attitude that seems to bespeak a perpetually upset stomach.

May 9, 2005

Full Review

David Elliott

Chicago Daily News

The movie is a miserable experience. The gags keep coming crazily, punch-pressing laughter from the audience long after the mirth of the situation has been curdled by the waves of pity, pain, contempt and blistering self-abuse.

Oct 3, 2023

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Robert Sullivan

Los Angeles Free Press

Although the laughs aren't as solid or as frequent as The Odd Couple's, it remains one of Simon's best works.

Jan 16, 2020

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Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

[It] was a very funny thing on stage, but with serious overtones. On film Simon's lines have just as much wit, just as much fun and just as much bite. But... The hero's anguish seems to overshadow his fumbling attempts at being a Casanova.

Apr 4, 2019

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Synopsis

Barney Cashman (Alan Arkin) is a successful restaurant owner and family man who, after 22 years of marriage, decides it's high time for him to have an affair. Taking advantage of his mother's empty apartment, he attempts to lure various women over for sex, but his efforts prove more than a little bumbling. A hard-living type (Sally Kellerman) openly derides him, a young actress (Paula Prentiss) proves too insane and his best friend's wife (Renee Taylor) is offended by the very idea.

Director: Gene Saks
Production Co: Paramount
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2011

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