10 Essential Movies You Need To Tick Off Your Bucket List
5. A New Leaf
A pitch black comedy written, directed by, and starring the great Elaine May, this cult classic flopped at the box office and rarely gets the attention that it deserves to this day, but is well worth seeking out for its big laughs and acidic sensibilities.
Walter Matthau plays somewhat against type as lead Henry Graham. Whereas usually the rumpled actor was cast as curmudgeonly but good hearted schlubs, here he’s a privileged wastrel who runs out of cash and hatches a plan to marry a wealthy woman, then quickly off her for the inheritance.
May is superb as Henrietta Lowell, a retreating botany professor who Henry intends on dispatching. Things go roughly as expected, though with a few inversions: Matthau’s character never really changes or learns, he just becomes ever so slightly less evil.
May’s directorial debut is a superbly accomplished film, a comedy that modern offerings should take a cue from. It’s pacy, lean, and actually funny, and never leans on cliches. Few 21st century rom coms can boast all of that.