House Calls

While I haven't seen enough of Walter Matthau's filmography to make a fair decision as to whether I like him or not, I know for sure much of that lack of knowledge is purposeful. To me, he generally has what I suppose I'd describe as a kind of stuffy aura about him. Sounds a bit strange maybe, but it's the word that always comes to mind with him, and its an aura I don't like. Point being, I avoid him in most cases. Not that I dislike him, I just dont vibe with him in general. A great comparison would be Tony Shalhoub. Again, no disrespect, I just can not stomach him for the life of me. Monk? I shudder just writing that. And it's fine, I'm sure neither of these accomplished gentlemen would vibe with me either. It's "just one of those things."

But then I saw Kino Lorber was releasing this film on blu-ray that I had not heard of before, and the poster art really intrigued me. The every day nature of the photography screamed to me that I was going to at least like this. And I did, quite a lot! House Calls is nothing remarkable. It's just a pleasant little movie with quirky characters and great performances bringing them to life through their own quirkiness. A film like this (even if it wasn't a "rom-com" as this likely gets labeled) relies completely on the chemistry between the leads, and it's surprisingly great here. Both Matthau (a DELIGHT here) and Glenda Jackson are both charming curmudgeons in their own little ways and it's interesting to see how it plays out together so effortlessly.

I've really come to appreciate films of the 1970s in recent years. Previously, I truly HATED them; anything to do with the 70s, really. Have I mentioned this in previous reviews? Probably. The brown! The avocado! Just everything about that decade, I truly hated it (besides my birth, of course, and those of my friends). Actually, music was safe from my wrath, but not cinema. I've come around though, with age I suppose, and now with these little slice-of-life movies from the genre's era of experimentation, they really hit the spot with me. And my hunch was right about this one, including regarding Walter Matthau. Feels good to come around on that one. Any recommendations?