I have to say the same thing about this film that I said about "The Happening" (from the same year, coincidentally), and that's that you almost have to hate it BITTERLY not to like it A LITTLE. I agree about a lot of the slapstick being out of place (though not even all of THAT). I think there's at least one good thing about Harry's "fits" (his hysterical blindness and deafness and so on) and that's seeing Peter Falk react to them in his usual low-key way. Maybe "Harry" WASN'T the best part for Jack Lemmon, I don't know, but Falk and Elaine May really made the most of their roles. And even Nina Wayne (the sister of Carol Wayne, I imagine), who had a much smaller part, makes the most of her comical "dumb blonde" role, without genuinely copying her sister. And of course, it has several great character actors - Eddie Mayehoff, Severn Darden (in a nearly silent role) and Paul Hartman (in a completely silent one). One of the best scenes has Harry reciting "Star Light, Star Bright" in an aggravated Jack Lemmon voice (which clashes with the poem completely, of course), and it's also the scene where Ellen wishes on the star by saying, "I wish I were a lesbian, that's what I wish. Then I wouldn't have these demeaning problems." Harry : You'd have other problems. Like picking up girls. Ellen : That's easy. You just have to be a liar and a hypocrite. Harry : It's not as easy as that. Do you know what a haircut costs these days? Again, on the one hand, I find the complaints about LUV hard to disagree with, and on the other hand, I find the movie impossible not to like a whole lot.
