The movie really is a tightrope walk. One false move and the comedy about a nervous breakdown turns into really bad taste. Fortunately, screenwriter Simon and actor Lemmon appear made for each other, their balancing act superbly carried out. Plus, Bancroft makes a likable foil for the dyspeptic Mel. The two reside in a Manhattan tower apartment. Trouble is they rub up against big city frustrations daily. So emotions begin to build, and when Mel is fired from his job, he goes into a slow-motion breakdown. Doesn't sound amusing, but the way it's brought off, it is, and we don't even feel guilty for laughing. For instance, there's the promiscuous stewardesses next door whose excesses cause a wall-banging contest with an annoyed (jealous?) Mel. Or the outdoor stoop where Mel goes to let off steam and get soaked by a combative upfloor neighbor. Then there's the array of exchanges between Mel, Edna, and brother Harry that are both revealing and, at times, poignant. Add the unexpected role reversals at movie's end, and we know writer Simon is reflecting on not just on one man's frustrations, but on life in the city and family life, as well. I'm still not clear, however, on the reasons for Mel's turnaround, but maybe I missed something.All in all, it's a beautifully executed turn with really tricky material that might be likened to 1944's Arsenic And Old Lace, minus the comedic body count.

Modern day New York City couple struggles with day-to-day hardships while living in the treacherous Big Apple. Jack Lemmon has yet another series of Neil Simon-scripted nervous breakdowns--too soon after "The Out-of-Towners". In fact, within the first 15 minutes of "Prisoner", we're reminded of "The Out-of-Towners", "The Apartment" and "Save the Tiger". It's a replay of themes--Jack Lemmon's Greatest Hits. Often times, there's simply no point to Lemmon's ranting, and the sources of his anger (unemployment, crime, etc.) are expressed as personal diatribes--these are his exclusive problems rather than universal frustrations. Anne Bancroft is touching as Jack's put-upon spouse, though not even she can save the perplexing finish, which throws everything out the window for the sake of an innocuous chuckle. ** from ****

THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE is perfection. Jack Lemmon's heartbreaking performance is remarkable. He captures brilliantly what every man of a certain age (and I am now in that category) must endure. He is the avatar to all 40-50 something males-through Lemmon and his performance we see ourselves . While its primarily a comedy-it is also a sublime adventure. We are seeing our lives through Mel's eyes-and for 1 and 3 quarter hours we are on a white knuckle ride through middle age-his pain, suffering, denial, his feeling of life kicking him in his sagging butt-are uniquely felt. Its a atharsis as we endure lifes lessons and ultimately-like life itself-come out of its inevitability smiling at the end-knowing that we have no other choice but to live life-not drown in it. This is Neil Simons masterpiece. Beautifully written it blows the artificiality of the later THE GOODBYE GIRL out of the water. The atrocious, shrill ONLY WHEN I LAUGH really put the nail in the coffin of Simons once amazing career. I count THE ODD COUPLE , THE HEARTBREAK KID , MURDER BY DEATH and of course PRISONER as some of my alltime favorites. And yet GOODBYE and LAUGH garnered nominations in categories PRISNER were denied-Actor, Actress, Screenplay and Picture at the Oscars. Our foundling fathers-the British recognized Anne Bancrofts hilarious performance as Best Actress at their BAFTA awards. She is very much Lemmons equa in this. They are Mel and Edna-they are the old married couple they portray. A separate shout out to Marvin Hamlish-his melancholy score is the score to my life. Its elegant , simple notes add up to one of the best scores-ever. Its a shame that it never made it to cd (nor album)-it is exquisite. In every area-acting, writing, scoring, AVENUE succeeds magnificently. As added touches that enhance the viewing-it is a perfect time capsule for Manhattan circa the 70s. You feel and taste it.Amazingly evocative of its times. Highly recommended-this movie takes no PRISONERs-it engulfs everyone.

If Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue is less than an intense survey of a married couple impelled to nervous breakdown by the exasperations and disgrace of bourgeois living, it still achieves compelling thrust, both somber and hilarious, mostly the latter though. If Melvin Frank's direction is accomplished but not inventive, he's skillfully served by a cast largely populated by Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft, who launch vigorously sincere characterization as credible as the real Second Avenue and other New York locales captured by the Technicolor cameras.Lemmon is aggravated and angst-peppered owing to the defective air-conditioning and thoughtless neighbors in his high-rise apartment house, among other things. And, his tattered nerves aren't greatly relieved when he is fired by his on-the-fence company. As an unemployed ad executive, he can't be liable for being impatient with the unemployment office. And he shouldn't be condemned for pounding on flimsy walls, cursing the neighbors, who drench him with water in reprisal, and developing neuroses swollen by imposed joblessness and appointments with an evasive shrink.If Bancroft, as his genuinely devoted spouse who purposefully gets a job to sustain them, becomes overwrought and bemused to the point of paranoia, she, too, can't be blamed for her mounting worries when she ultimately must choose whether to receive financial help from her husband's apprehensive, if quizzical, siblings. Lemmon, no alien to Simon's work, and Bancroft are most believable and identifiable when unromanticized, and the strength of the piece is in their collaboration in roles as familiar in their comic reciprocating as many of New York's scuttling millions. And they get strong support from Odd Couple director Gene Saks, as Lemmon's prosperous, straightforward older brother and Elizabeth Wilson and Florence Stanley, as his suspicious sisters, not to mention a young Sylvester Stallone's hilarious scene, which could be the high point of the picture.They aren't in the thick of Greek tragedy or in humdrum sitcom TV. Simon is sober about a premise that isn't momentous and he reasonably swathes its earnestness with real laughs that pop up, including radio news items such as the update that a Polish freighter has just collided with the Statue of Liberty. And, with a cast whose members recognize the value of what they're saying and doing, the trials and tribulations of Second Avenue become a diversion.