"If you're a human being, then you reserve the right to complain, to protest.  If you give up that right then you cease to exist."  That is the motto of Mel Edison, a mid-level ad executive living in New York City.  Living in the Big Apple, Mel finds plenty of things to complain about.  His wonderfully funny rants are a high point in Prisoner of Second Avenue, a movie based on Neil Simon's hit play.

It's summer in New York City.  The town is baking in the heat, and things are going badly for Mel Edison (Jack Lemmon.)  He has to chase his bus, and when he catches up with it he doesn't have the correct change.  He gets stuck in elevator, and then he finds out that he has to share his secretary with a colleague.  He has trouble at home too.  There's the smell of the garbage rotting in the heat, the paper-thin walls, and the horrible plumbing.  Mel complains about all this and more to his understanding wife, Edna (Anne Bancroft.)  But when Mel is fired from his job, and a few days later his apartment is robbed, things go beyond complaining.  He can only stand so much, and he's past that point.  He has a breakdown.  His wife has to get a job and earn the money, and she starts to realize what working in New York City is like.  Slowly calm and quite Edna starts to complain, and turns into her husband.

This comic movie is filled with that Neil Simon banter that is both funny and accurate.  Simon has a wonderful way of turning a phrase, of making a line both memorable and funny, and this movie is filled with them.  Mel's rants on his terrace are wonderful to watch.  You can see how an average guy could be reduced to yelling at the entire city.  Great stuff.

There were some segments that I didn't find humorous though.  Mel's nervous breakdown and ranting about the plot against him struck me as rather depressing.  The scene where Mel is slashing open a package that he has purchased with a large knife and his wife is terrified was another scene that had humorous elements by also had an unsettling feeling.

In order for something to be funny, at least to me, on one has to get hurt in a serious manner.  When Buster Keaton does a pratfall, he lands on his head, spins around and then gets up with a quizzical look on his face.  It looks painful, but he's okay, and that makes it funny.  But when Jack Lemmon walks in with a blank look on his face and tells everyone he's fine because he's sedated, I didn't find it funny.  He has undergone a mental trauma and been hurt by it, and I just couldn't laugh at that.  Most of that section of the movie didn't work for me.  The message of the movie, as the opening quote suggests, was that everyone has a right to complain.  When Mel is sedated, he doesn't complain, but he doesn't do much of anything else either, effectively ceasing to 'exist.'   While I like the message, I couldn't find the humor in some of it.  This isn't a major complaint, and it didn't ruin the movie for me, I just didn't laugh.

This movie had a great cast.  Jack Lemmon did a wonderful job, as he usually does.  He could broadcast more emotion with a glance or a raised eyebrow than most actors could with their entire body.  And no one can do a slow simmer like Lemmon.  He's start out calm and just start getting more upset and angrier.  Soon, after a logical progression, he would be screaming and pounding on the wall.  (Or even more humorous, insisting that his wife pound on the wall.)  Lemmon would always shine in a role where he has been provoked, and this is such a part for him.

Anne Bancroft was also very good, the perfect foil to Lemmon's grumbling character. She holds her own with her raving husband.  She tries to clam him down, but when that doesn't work she'll butt heads with him.  You can see the point in her face when she's had enough.  It's great to watch.
 
Though flawed, this was still a fun movie to watch.  Be sure to look for a young Sylvester Stallone as a pickpocket, and F. Murray Abraham as a taxi driver.
 

The audio is presented with the original mono soundtrack.  It sounds about as good as could be expected.  The dynamic range was not very wide, but it doesn't affect the feeling of the movie.  The dialog was clear and crisp and easy to understand.  There are removable subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Video:

The anamorphic widescreen video was passable, good for a movie that's over 25 years old.  There was only a slight amount of grain in some of the darker scenes.  An occasional scratch or spot was present on the source but nothing too drastic.  There were a few digital artifacts, mostly noticeable when Jack Lemon is chasing a man through the park.  The lines in the background shimmer and jump quite a bit.  Other than that, it was a decent transfer.

The Extras:

There were some fun extras on this DVD.  First off is a 7½-minute interview with Anne Bancroft on the Dinah! show.  Host Dinah Shore, after a muddled introduction, talks with Bancroft about Prisoner of Second Avenue, and working with Jack Lemon.  They show some outtakes and goofs from the movie at the end of the segment, which are definitely worth waiting for.  There is a fairly prominent low hum in the throughout the segment, which was annoying.

There was also a 6-minute 'making of' featurette.  There are short interviews with the cast, and some outtakes, and scene of the movie being filmed.  The video was very soft and blurry, but still a nice inclusion.

There is also a trailer for the film.
 

Final Thoughts:

This is an amusing film even though parts of it fell flat for me.  I didn't find the middle section where Jack Lemmon's character really goes crazy to be nearly as entertaining as the beginning or end.  The movie is filled with the great banter and humor that Neil Simon is known for.  If you enjoyed Neil Simon's The Out-of-Towners you'll probably find this movie to your liking too.  Recommended.