Dad's Movies: A New Leaf (1971)

Today, it's A New Leaf (1971), an odd but very well done comedy from Elaine May whose career was sadly cut short after the financial disaster of "Ishtar". 

I sometimes tire of Walter Matthau in some roles but he's great in this film. Apparently the original version of this movie, before the studio took control of it from May, was longer and had Matthau's character murdering two people. This would have definitely moved this film into very dark comedy territory, much further than it is in the version we have now. The film does have an edge to it but there is a sweetness to the whole thing that is satisfying and the character does still work for me, even knowing that there was more range perhaps in May's version. I suppose it's a matter of what kind of story you want to tell here for the movie as it is now makes it hard to buy that Matthau's character would actually kill people. Sure, he fantasizes about getting rid of his new wife but you don't actually think he'd go there as there's noting in the lead up that would make us think he'd do that. Again, it would probably be a different kind of movie so probably an apples/oranges thing. 

In any case, the movie we have is really fun. May's performance is fantastic; her character is genuinely irritating at times and hard to warm up to which makes the later part of the movie work. We like her more and she's a developed character with an arc just like Matthau's - it's a rare movie that can balance the sweet with the cynical/sarcastic.