Jack Lemmon and Shirley McLaine deliver charming and layered performances in Billy Wilder’s bittersweet tale of two lonely souls meeting in 1960s New York. McLaine’s wry elevator operator, stuck in a dead-end relationship with a married man, finds friendship with Lemmon’s harried insurance man, whose exploitative boss is the very same guy. They bond over their sad-sack lives in fits and starts but successfully enough to perhaps change their own narratives. Mostly a heartwarming, witty rom-com, sneakily a full-on subtle drama, this film’s ahead of its time on depression and the social ills of capitalism. – Lina Fisher
