Blu-ray Review – Last of the Red Hot Lovers

"Last of the Red Hot Lovers" opened on Broadway during the final days of 1969. The Neil Simon creation went on to become a hit on stage, attracting audiences with its humorous study of a man trying (and failing) to screw up the courage to have an affair, facing three women who challenge his life and behavior in different ways. There were Tony Award nominations, and soon a screen adaptation in 1972, with director Gene Saks hired to bring Simon's particular way of writing to movie theaters, having already managed the playwright's perspective in "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Odd Couple." The helmer doesn't really do much to Simon's material in "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," which maintains a steady filmed play appearance, sustaining focus on the actors as they work the frame and their coverage, replicating stage energy in the offering. But what a cast it is, as Alan Arkin leads the charge in this grand study of neuroses and panic, paired with wonderful supporting turns from Sally Kellerman, Paula Prentiss, and Renee Taylor, who help to generate enough buzzing energy to the endeavor to keep it mildly interesting. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com