Worth a chuckle or more, this sometimes hilarious comedy hits a raw nerve with anyone who has lived in an apartment building where you can hear all the noise you never wanted to (at all sorts of hours),in a world that starts with listening to the radio news detail one horror after another.

That's the way the Broadway play started. The lights went out before the curtain opened and all you heard was a radio announcer delivering one crazy incident after another on the local news. That was the prologue to what you knew was about to follow. Then the curtains parted and the play began.

JACK LEMMON and ANNE BANCROFT play off each other brilliantly, but when all is said and done, there's just something missing in this Neil Simon comedy. The payoff that you should feel when the movie ends, just isn't there.

And yet, when you hear some of the news, it's almost quaint. Just think what was supposed to get a laugh: a news flash that a Polish freighter had just run into the Statue of Liberty. How tame!! Imagine what kind of news flash there would have been if this were written after 9/11.

Good supporting roles from Gene Saks, as Lemmon's brother, and Elizabeth Wilson and Florence Stanley as his sisters.

It may be lesser Simon, but it's still worth seeing, especially for New Yorkers.

When you see a Neil Simon play or movie based on one of his plays, you usually expect a comedy. And, while "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" is billed as a comedy, I really didn't see it as a comedy at all...except until the dryly comic ending. To me, it just didn't seem funny but was more a portrait of a caustic man allowing himself to be overwhelmed by events in his life.

When the story begins, Mel (Jack Lemmon) seems on edge....and rather nasty. Because of this, it's really hard to like the guy. You feel sorry for his circumstances....but he's also a jerk. Some may not mind this. As for me, it made it much harder to connect with the man.

So what circumstances are affecting Mel? Well, his job is going terribly. He's worked there for 22 years but his company's fortunes are bleak...and he realizes sooner or later he might be fired. After all, many of his coworkers have been let go. Instead of talking to his wife, Edna (Anne Bancroft) about this and his fears, he internalizes it. She can tell something is the matter...but he lies and says everything is fine. Even once he is let go at work, he doesn't tell his wife for several days...hoping he'll soon find another job. But considering he's nearing 50, his odds are slim.

The film follows Mel over time, as he slowly begins to lose confidence and externalize his anger towards EVERYONE around him to becoming passive, caustic and just plain nasty to literally having a nervous breakdown. All this is very interesting and insightful. But funny? No way.

So, if you want to see a realistic portrait of a nasty guy as he slowly loses his mind and finally recovers, then this film is for you. As for me, I'm glad I saw it but I never enjoyed it. The actors and directors did well...but making Mel such a jerk harmed the film. Had the film been a bit longer and it showed him initially been a good, kind and decent man, I would have definitely connected with his plight. As it was, I had no idea why his wife stayed with him. See the movie...you'll see what I mean.

Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue ran for 798 performances on Broadway for the better part of two years in 1971-73. Peter Falk and Lee Grant played the parts that movie names Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft took over. Essentially it is a two person play without a lot of character development for anyone else.

Lemmon and Bancroft are Mr.&Mrs Mel and Edna Edison and the ever patient Edna as the film opens is listening to one of Mel's patented rants about how the world is just victimizing him. It seems that way as among other things the apartment is robbed, Lemmon loses his job, he becomes a crime victim, and even the neighbor upstairs tired of listening to him, douses Lemmon with a bucket of water. Eventually Lemmon becomes a candidate for the rubber room. Bancroft thinks if they can just get out of the New York City rat race, Lemmon might become a human being.

For which task she enlists her brother and sisters-in-law. In the end however the roles are reversed.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue doesn't quite succeed as much as Simon's other work like The Odd Couple or The Sunshine Boys. Like them it depends on the skill and chemistry of the leads. Fortunately Lemmon and Bancroft have skill in abundance.

Still I came away from watching this wondering exactly what did I just see. The plot is almost non-existent, but if you like both the leads than don't miss this film.