How far would you go to get insurance money not really owed you? (And on the other side, to withhold money from a claimant?) Billy Wilder really doesn't hit the right notes, for me, with The Fortune Cookie (I even think I tried watching it some years ago and had bailed on it) The problem with this insurance fraud comedy is that, no matter how sweet Jack Lemmon's false victim acts, it can't forgive the wringer the accidentally-assaulting football player is put through. The moral scales just don't balance in the end. It's not without its moments, of course (it's Wilder!), which is what breeds disappointment. Walter Matthau is charismatic as the almost-caricature of an ambulance chaser. Lemmon is particularly good when he finally realizes his ex-wife is back in the picture for the wrong reasons. And there are certainly some amusing gags here and there. Just a little too rancid for me.

Great comedy. Very clever and heartwarming. Good actors (Jack Lemmon!). Worth watching if it's on TV.