KLOTCH

KOTCH (1971)
dir: Jack Lemmon

KLOTCH
Cracked #105, November 1972
a: O.O. Severin (John Severin)

Funny how Walter Matthau eventually became a go-to 'old guy' in movies but back when this was made, the idea of him playing an old man was part of the novelty of this.The other draw was this was packaged as an “Odd Couple” movie, since Matthau and director Lemmon were somewhat of a team.

This starts out sticking to the plot but eventually strays from the main act: Kotch gets his family's live-in teenage nanny fired for doing the sex, then makes it up to her, finding her and helping her out when she has no place to live, then eventually helping her give birth.

Joseph Kotcher (Walter Matthau) lives with his son (Charles Aidman) and daughter-in-law (Felicia Farr) and becomes a burden on them, particularly the way he dotes on his grandson. They hire a babysitter to take care of her.

Kotch walks around feeling ignored at home and that night sees the babysitter Erica (Deborah Winter) with her boyfriend. Here they don't feature her after this even though she's the co-star of the movie.

His family tries to put him in a home which he turns down in favor of traveling across the country and then coming back and getting his own apartment.

Kotch follows Erica around to be with their grandson, and he gets in trouble for talking to someone else's child and patting her on the fanny.

He's actually welcomed back but chooses to live on his own, here he keeps irritating his son and son's wife and ends up going to a home.