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The Prisoner of Second Avenue

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Comedy · 1975

Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.

Movie details

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

“...and you think you've got problems.”

1975 Comedy 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Prisoner of Second Avenue?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Melvin Frank

Written by

Neil Simon

Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon

Mel Edison

Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft

Edna Edison

Gene Saks

Gene Saks

Harry Edison

Elizabeth Wilson

Elizabeth Wilson

Pauline

Florence Stanley

Florence Stanley

Pearl

Maxine Stuart

Maxine Stuart

Belle

Ed Peck

Ed Peck

Man Upstairs

Court is in session

Put The Prisoner of Second Avenue on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.