I Ought to be in Pictures (1982)

This movie based on a Neil Simon play is not that well-known or even that special, but it is always such a joy to watch Walter Matthau.  He plays an unsuccessful screenwriter turned unsuccessful gambler in California having walked out on his New York family some sixteen years previous.  Dinah Manoff (Lee Grant's daughter and again not that well-known) plays his smartass daughter who has come to the West Coast purportedly to become an actress but in reality to get to know her dad.  The interplay between them as Matthau resists being a father and Manoff as she wears down his resistance is beautiful to watch and ultimately very moving.  And of course as befits the writer, the dialogue is smart and snappy.  I must also afford a kind word about Ann-Margaret after I had a go at her a few days ago; she play's Matthau's mistress who can not get him to commit himself and she plays this role with grace and dignity.  However, hers is a small part and it's the two-hander repartee that most involves the viewer.