Buddy Buddy
A suicidal hotel guest inadvertently derails a hitman's witness-elimination mission in a dark, tightly staged buddy farce.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Simple
- Violence
- Moderate
- witty
- sardonic
- breezy
- classic comedy night
- retro movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the compact Wilder-Lemmon-Matthau premise appealing in theory but judged the execution uneven, witless, and far below their best collaborations.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Victor Clooney's emotional crisis repeatedly disrupts Trabucco's assassination plan, forcing the hitman and suicidal hotel guest into sustained interaction.
A Mafia witness-killing assignment unfolds beside Victor's despair over his wife's affair and his disruptive attempts at suicide.
The hitman's window-side stakeout and Victor's neighboring hotel-room troubles generate repeated physical complications within the hotel.
Victor's depression and suicide attempts are central obstacles to the hitman's plan while also shaping the film's uneasy comic register.
Films like Buddy Buddy, and why
The Fortune Cookie
shared buddy-film structure, farcical misunderstandings, and comic crime premise
The Front Page
shared Billy Wilder farce, dark comic situations, and Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau chemistry
The Whole Nine Yards
shared hitman comedy, hotel-set tension, and escalating physical farce
Charade
shared crime-comedy collision between an emotionally distressed civilian and professional killers
Movie Details
- Director
- Billy Wilder
- Release Date
- 1981-04-02
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (119)
Cast
- Jack Lemmon
- Walter Matthau
- Paula Prentiss
- Klaus Kinski
- Dana Elcar
- Miles Chapin
- Michael Ensign
- Joan Shawlee
- Fil Formicola
- C.J. Hunt
Common questions
- What is Buddy Buddy about?
- A suicidal hotel guest inadvertently derails a hitman's witness-elimination mission in a dark, tightly staged buddy farce.
- What is Buddy Buddy like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Buddy Buddy as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as simple.
- Is Buddy Buddy violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Buddy Buddy as moderate.
- What did critics think of Buddy Buddy?
- Critics broadly found the compact Wilder-Lemmon-Matthau premise appealing in theory but judged the execution uneven, witless, and far below their best collaborations.
- Which films are like Buddy Buddy?
- Films with a similar feel include The Fortune Cookie, The Front Page, The Whole Nine Yards, and Charade.
- How long is Buddy Buddy?
- Buddy Buddy runs 96 minutes.
