Without the theatricality of the theatre it's easier to notice how hollow the gags are, how contrived the plot, how mechanical the direction.

Jack Lemmon is a pastmaster of the Simon style; and Anne Bancroft bats the dialogue back with lovely expertise.

It's too grim for most filmgoers to attempt to extract the juicier laugh lines.

Treading on the narrow line of pathos between humor and tragedy, "Prisoner" is a first-rate filmization.