Product Details

• Actors: Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, Gene Saks, Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300268144
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,142 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Mel Edison, a soon-to-be-unemployed advertising executive, is driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown by New York City living. In an attempt to escape from a garbage strike, nosy neighbors and an unreliable air conditioner in the middle of a head wave, Mel and his long-suffering wife Edna visit his brother in the country. Unfortunately, the dark cloud of tribulation seems to follow Mel in this comic nightmare.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Neil Simon comedy, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoner of Second Avenue [VHS] (VHS Tape)

My favorite team strikes again in this wonderful adaptation of the stage play, that team being Neil Simon and Jack Lemmon. First there was "The Odd Couple", then "The Out-of-Towners", both classics in my opinion. But "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" may be the finest of the three because it allows its players to flex every bit of acting muscle they've got. Lemmon displays a broad range of emotions--convincingly--and has the viewer alternately laughing and crying as the movie progresses. Anne Bancroft is good as his steady, patient wife Edna, who remains true to Mel as he battles his crises. This is a must see, and unless you purchase the video, you'll probably encounter difficulty finding it at the local video store.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another underrated classic., August 17, 2004

By 

D. R Hayes "D.R. Hayes" (Clermont, FL. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prisoner of Second Avenue (DVD)

This is one of my all time favorite movies. It shows the funny side of people only concerned about themselves. You have Jack Lemmon as a recently unemployed adman, and Anne Bancroft as his sympathetic yet let's be practical wife. I feel that this is both thier finest hours in this movie as the chemistry shows that they really enjoyed working with each other. I find Lemmon's character is one who just can't believe that his career is over, and he's nowhere near the age of retirement, and plus he's from the old school where the woman stayed at home while the man goes out, and gets the meat. When Bancroft's character goes to work it causes a breakdown in Lemmon's character as his perfect world continues to crumble making him hostile towards everyone; his family, friends, his wife, the upstairs neighbor(which the arguments between them are simpily hilarious), and Lemmon's own character's desire to get even, and win one for his own glory; so he ends up mugging a man in Central Park (played by Sylvester Stallone)because he thought it was the other way around. Bancroft's character is also becoming unglued by the constant work, and then she's laid off. There's also Lemmon's character's brother who's in love with hearing himself talk about how analytical his thinking is, and don't forget that upstairs neighbor who just wants peace and quiet in his perfect world because he has his own worries to deal with. Filmed in New York City I guess Neil Simon would know what NYC is like from a personal experience which is why this is so funny, and let's not forget the narrator who takes us through the news stories throughout. Should be allowed to come back on the t.v. again, and give America something funny to watch.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Where Does the Time Go????, July 8, 2006

By 

Vince Iuliano (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prisoner of Second Avenue (DVD)

For some reason, probably because I watched this again shortly after Anne Bancroft passed away, and of course watching the always terrific Jack Lemmon at the top of his game (at my current age!) playing yet another of those wonderful angst driven characters using words created by Neil Simon, for that reason perhaps I was struck by our mortality. This film was made just a few short years ago, and yet all the actors are gone,and they left looking 'old'. My God, where does the time go?
This is not the funniest film you'll see, some of it is sad and human, but it has moments of comic brilliance. Its eminently watchable thanks to the two main actors and their great talent; its sad, its wistful, its a slice of New York that we will never see again, and I plan on watching it again soon.
I'm glad its in my collection although it left me with a bit of a lump in my throat. They were just so good, these comic talents, and it was just a few moments ago, wasn't it?