ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

edwagreen What a wonderful movie. For a change,Walter Matthau plays a sympathetic rather than a cantankerous character. He is just wonderful here in his Oscar nominated performance.What makes the movie so good is that it doesn't really stress the attempt of his son and daughter-in-law to put him in a home and then show the misery of homes. Rather,it deals with the coming of life anew for Matthau when he takes a profound interest in the very pregnant babysitter for his grandson. What an interesting idea and it is so well developed.Deborah Winters gives a fantastic supporting performance as the pregnant girl,orphaned, raised by an uncaring brother who finds meaning in her life when she aided by Kotch.There is a totally winning song dealing with what you do with your life.This film was definitely an under-rated gem. Too bad.

tavm Just watched Kotch, the only film Jack Lemmon directed with his pal Walter Matthau starring. Matthau plays Joseph Kotcher, a retired businessman who's staying with his son Gerald (Charles Aidman), daughter-in-law Wilma (Felicia Farr, who was Lemmon's real-life wife), and their baby son Duncan. Since both parents work and Joe isn't always responsible with his grandson (Wilma mentions Duncan getting some beer foam and pizza from his grandpop), they send him to a retirement home. This happens despite the babysitter they hired, Erica (Deborah Winters), being not so responsible herself since she has sex with her boyfriend in Kotcher's home with Joe as witness. Needless to say, Joe and Erica form an unlikely bond when she gets pregnant and he decides to go on the road instead of agreeing to the old folks home. I'll stop right there and say while I thought that the movie was going to be a little treacly with scenes of Matthau and the baby on the playground and the Marvin Hamlisch-Johnny Mercer song "Life is What You Make It" playing (which amazingly got an Oscar nomination), it got a little better with Joe's amusing tangents throughout the picture. Erica took a little more getting used to since her tangents were initially irritating but she calmed down eventually. I was worried for her, however, when she first rode in Kotch's creaky 1940s car especially since neither wore a seat belt when they were running fast! The funniest scene to me was when they stopped at a gas station and, as they were going to the ladies' restroom, the sign near the door said, "Ask Attendent for Key"! This happens as Erica's water broke and the attendants were very fixated on their motorcycle. Also appearing here are Larry Linville in his film debut as Erica's brother and guardian who provides some amusing moments a year before becoming Frank Burns on "M*A*S*H", and Ellen Geer, actor Will Geer's daughter, who plays Joe's late wife Vera in flashbacks in touching scenes. She was also Lemmon's ex-wife Frances on The Odd Couple II, and recently played Katherine Mayfair's aunt on "Desparate Housewives". Not a great dramedy, but Lemmon the director provides some nice touches that makes one keep watching for the little moments that Matthau provides in a role that got him a second Oscar nomination. Worth a look for fans of both.

Robert D. Ruplenas I had never seen Kotch, but had always wanted to because of the presence of Walter Matthau and because of Jack Lemmon as director. It finally showed up on TCM the other night and, after years of waiting, I sadly have to agree with the lone previous viewer who found it wretched. I hate to be, once again, the turd in the punchbowl of hosannas here, but there are no characters in this movie, only cardboard cutouts. Matthau (who I love) is simply not credible here as a man who needs to be put away; his off-the-wall performance never makes us believe he is anywhere close to senile. The opening scene, with its aforementioned treacly 70's score, is predictive of the dreck to come. The movie is never played for human drama but only for cheap laughs, and those are few and far between. In the end I did what I rarely do, i.e. said to myself "why I am torturing myself," shut it off, and put on a good Laurel and Hardy movie.

paluska Wonderfully unpredictable movie, with fine direction and acting and nice film score. Lemmon should direct more often. Viewer never knows what is going to happen next, although expectation Matthau may die or get killed. Great movie on aging, uplifting and superbly directed, acted and written. A real "10."