Charles Matthau Movies

Maverick indie filmmaker Henry Jaglom moves from the sweet poignancy of his 2009 Irene in Time to knowing Hollywood satire with this romantic comedy that finds him teaming with actress Tanna Frederick for the third time. Frederick portrays Maggie Chase, a B-list star who longs to find love and fulfillment and achieve household-name status, but must contend with twin products of her wild behavior: a court-ordered electronic ankle bracelet and temporary house arrest. Fortunately, Maggie has a team of clever spin doctors (Ron Vignone, David Proval, Zack Norman, and Diane Salinger), who manage to turn her drunk-driving activities into attention-grabbing tabloid fodder. She also draws on the support of a movie-star beau, Dov Lambert (Christopher Rydell), equally known for his no-holds-barred behavior. For a time, it looks as though Maggie's grandest dreams will actualize, as her national fame crescendos, but her life grows more complicated when she follows Dov home to meet his kin, and runs headfirst into a series of show-business legends (played by Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Christopher, Kathryn Crosby, Mary Crosby, Sabrina Jaglom, and Jack Heller). She also meets Dov's brother, failed writer Aaron Lambert (Noah Wyle), who seems tailor-made for Maggie with his ability to penetrate her superficial facades, but must deal with lingering issues in his own life and past. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Adapted by Richard Vetere from his own play, the made-for-TV The Marriage Fool served to reunite Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett, the stars of the 1972 theatrical feature Pete 'n Tillie. Matthau is cast as widowed septuagenarian Frank Walsh, whose sedentary lifestyle is shifted into third gear by the arrival in his life of flamboyant, sixtyish widow Florence (Carol Burnett). Falling in love, Frank and Florence try to convince Frank's son Robert (John Stamos) to tie the knot with his own girlfriend, Susan (Teri Polo). Robert not only resists the entreaties of his father, but he also refuses to give his consent to Frank and Florence's planned marriage. Charles Matthau, son of star Walter, directed the film and has a cute cameo role. First telecast on CBS on September 20, 1998, The Marriage Fool has since been released on cable and video as Love After Death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A foster home-bound 9-year-old and his aging grandmother run from the authorities in this drama. ~ Rovi

Neil Simon based his screenplay for I Ought to Be in Pictures on one of his more serious theatrical pieces. Walter Matthau is top-billed as Herbert Tucker, a struggling screenwriter who suddenly finds his 19-year-old daughter, Libby(Dinah Manoff), on his Hollywood doorstep. Having deserted his family years earlier, Herbert isn't keen on having his daughter around to cramp his lifestyle, which at this point consists of drinking his meals and telling lies to his faithful girlfriend, Stephanie (Ann-Margret). Libby takes it upon herself to put Herbert's life in order. There are plenty of angry outbursts and recriminations between father and daughter before the tearful, upbeat conclusion. Incidentally, Dinah Manoff is the daughter of actress Lee Grant, who'd previously co-starred with Walter Matthau in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite -- which, like I Ought to be in Pictures, was directed by Herbert Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

As if in some way Billy Wilder sensed that Buddy Buddy would ultimately turn out to be his final feature film, Wilder lets loose scatter-shot stingers at a wide range of pop-culture targets -- from sex clinics, to 60 Minutes, to movie references, to disco, to Betamax video recorders. Based on Francis Veber and Edouard Molinaro's L'emmerdeur (known in the United States as A Pain in the A. . .), Buddy Buddy concerns the unlikely pairing of a gruff hitman and a suicidal klutz. Walter Matthau plays a professional killer going by the name of Trabucco, who is on his way to rub out gangster Rudy "Disco" Gambola (Fil Formicola), set to testify against the mob. As Trabucco heads off to a hotel across the street from the courthouse where he plans to set his hit, he runs into the depressed Victor Clooney (Jack Lemmon), who laments the fact that his wife has left him for the head of a weird Californian sex clinic. Trabucco keeps walking and sets up his rifle in a hotel room. He is disturbed by Victor trying to hang himself in the adjoining hotel room and tries to prevent him from killing himself by restraining him, but Victor breaks loose and climbs onto the ledge of the hotel window. To get Victor to come back in, he agrees to drive him to the clinic to see his wife. The two go to the clinic where Victor's wife Celia (Paula Prentiss) informs Victor that she is in love in the head of the clinic, quack Dr. Zuckerbrot (Klaus Kinski). When Victor finds out that Celia is filing for divorce, he heads back to the hotel to kill himself, with Celia and Dr. Zuckerbrot in pursuit. Arriving at the hotel, they plan to inject Victor with a sedative but stick Trabucco with the needle instead. Trabucco reveals to Victor his assignment to kill Rudy, and Victor tries to help him with the killing. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The success this underdog comedy from director Michael Ritchie almost single-handedly spawned the kids' sports film boom of the 1980s and '90s. When beer-breathed ex-minor-league ball player and professional pool cleaner Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) agrees to coach a little league team in the San Fernando Valley, he soon finds he's in over his head, having inherited an assortment of pint-sized peons and talentless losers. They play well-organized teams and lose by tremendous margins, and the parents threaten to disband the Bears to save the kids (and themselves) any further embarrassment. Buttermaker refuses, though, and brings in a pair of ringers: Amanda (Tatum O'Neal), his ex-girlfriend's tomboy daughter, and Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley), a cigarette-smoking delinquent who happens to be a gifted athlete. With their help, the Bears manage to change their losing ways and qualify for the championship, where they face their arch-rivals, the Yankees. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi