It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Plot-- Having neither money nor feelings, an aging wastrel better figure out how to get money quickly or he's in big trouble. Thanks to his quick thinking manservant, he looks to marry a rich woman. Soon he settles on a lonely, inept young woman who specializes in both botany and ruining rugs. So what will happen now.Well, I guess the movie's a comedy thanks mainly to May's touchingly clumsy funny girl. Still, it's a hard movie to get a handle on. Matthau's coldly calculating fortune hunter hardly cracks a smile the whole time, even in social situations. Between the two, they're hardly a promising comedy mix. Yet, the mix works even as Graham (Matthau) pores over a poisoning book on his wedding night, while poor Lowell (May) can't even get her gown on straight. No, the movie may not be a knee-slapper, but it is unusually charming in its own way. In fact, May manages to make her character one of the most uniquely winning that I've had the good luck to see. Then too, casting the familiar faces of Coco and Weston conveys a hint of tongue in cheek even as they play a couple of mean guys.The ending is appropriate as the movie's title suggests. At the same time we can't be sure what the emotionally destitute Graham will do. After all, he wants status, but without the responsibilities.Apparently, May was the creative hand (writer and director) behind this unusual comedy-drama. Too bad she was also behind the monumental flop Ishtar which appears to have slowed her promising movie career. No, the movie may not be a knee-slapper, but it is humorously different. Thanks to May, we're left with a memorable portrayal that I'll think of every time I check the carbon on my car's cylinders.

Henry Graham has "no skills, no resources, no ambition. All I am, or was," he says to his valet, "is rich, and that's all I ever wanted to be. I don't understand, Harold. Why did it happen to me? Why? I was so happy. What will I do?"Those lines from "A New Leaf" are a picture of what Henry Graham's life was like up to now. He's single but he isn't a playboy or a homosexual. If anything, he's a misogynist. He's a man who enjoys manly sports, thrills and action – cost and other people be damned. Walter Matthau plays the egocentric Graham to perfection. He's a self-centered, snob and hedonist whose behavior is sardonic to all around him. His character is exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness. He lives in a New York City apartment but owns a Ferrari. He can't drive the super sports car more than twice a week, so it's always carboned up and in the shop for repairs. But "it's worth it," he tells a mechanic. He owns a plane but doesn't fly it often enough. So it has the same problems -- carbon. He owns a horse and plays polo. He eats in the best restaurants and enjoys fancy wine. In short, he's on a pleasure trip, but he owns so much and has so many things that he can't use them often. And he says, or thinks that he's happy. Fifteen years earlier, Henry came of age and out from under his uncle's guardianship. He told his attorney and financial manager that he wanted to live on an income of $200,000 per year. But he doesn't have a job or own a business. His lifestyle is based on his inheritance earnings of $90,000 per year. Now the money has run out, all his investments are sold, and he's broke. There's only one way to escape poverty and the humiliation of it. As his valet, Harold, explains, it's "what any gentleman in similar circumstances would do – marry." It's presumed into wealth, of course. George Rose is Henry's valet, Harold. He encourages Henry in his hunt for a wife. Harold says he would find it hard to find work elsewhere as a gentleman's gentleman. He says to Henry, "You have managed in your lifetime, Mr. Graham, to keep alive traditions that were dead before you were born." The films is loaded with such wit and funny lines throughout. Most of it comes in the acerbic lines of Henry, especially toward servants, and those people "below" him. Enter Elaine May, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. She plays wealthy heiress Henrietta Lowell. She's the perfect candidate – after Henry has dated some others whom he couldn't tolerate. But the shy, clumsy, amiable and amicable Henrietta is the perfect spouse for Henry's future plans. The rest of the story unfolds as Henry courts Henrietta and they get married. Great humor comes in the form of Henrietta's attorney, Andy McPherson, and a slew of consorts who are sponging off the good- hearted and naïve Henrietta. Jack Weston is superb as McPherson and provides some of the most hilarious scenes in his groveling and begging Henrietta to marry him instead of Henry. Doris Roberts heads the household cast as Mrs. Traggert, and she and the rest of the cast are a hoot. James Coco is hilarious as Uncle Harry. Of course, Henry can see through these slouches, incompetents and con artists. And he's the biggest one of all in this film. Harold discovers the household books, hidden under Mrs. Traggert's mattress. Traggert and company have been bilking Henrietta for years. Henry takes charge of the household, fires the lot and hires new competent help. The rest of the story shows Henry looking for a way to dispose of his wife – by an accident, of course. But as it develops, Harold tells Henry that he has changed, that he has many skills, and that Mrs. Graham is a very good partner. Still, Henry says, almost in a tantrum, "I don't want to share things. I want to own them all by myself." Henrietta's naiveté and innocence begin to work on Henry, He gradually becomes more patient and kind toward her. I won't describe all the details that lead to his final change of heart. But when Henrietta names a new fern she discovers after Henry, we see the spark of humanity begin to glow in Henry. This is a great comic tale of wasted youth, hedonism, and self-centeredness that ends with redemption. Very clever writing, directing, editing and musical scoring went into this film. It's a most entertaining movie with a great moral – although those just looking for entertainment may miss the latter. It is very cleverly interwoven in this beautiful and very funny film. It's certainly one of the very best films about a person turning over a new leaf. Here's one very funny scene in the film. At a fancy restaurant, Henry picks out a wine and says to Henrietta that the '55 Mouton Rothschild was an excellent wine. Henrietta then tells him she didn't drink much, but her favorite wine comes from a drink she had the previous year on a botanical field trip to the Caribbean. A friend introduced her to Mogen David extra heavy Malaga wine with soda and lime juice. "It tastes a little like grapefruit juice, and every year is good," Henrietta says. "It's called a Malaga cooler." I don't know how either actor could keep a straight face in this scene. What a great, funny and satisfying movie!

Walter Matthau has been living high on the hog and used to the extravagant life, due to his wealth left to him, but one day he finds it's all gone. It has come to his attention through his accountant that he is broke and that he has innumerable debts. He must liquidate. He must do something. That something, as he discusses and decides with his man, is to marry for money. Enter Elaine May, who is ideal, because she is eccentric, lonely, kind of naïve and unsuspecting, and plain but not too plain. Oh, and she's very, very rich. In his wooing her, they have adventures together, but mainly talking about her hobby of gardening and discovering new flowers. She loves flowers. He also finds that her staff has been taking advantage of her, because she is very gullible. People tend to take advantage of her sweet nature. Huh? It turns out that Walter has finally found some good use for himself in taking care of her and her financial business. He finally finds some self-worth in thinking of someone besides himself. Her sweet disposition, their chemistry together and the great ending really make the film. It is now my favorite "new film I've discovered." Elaine May wrote and directed this film and I loved all of it. The beginning is a bit confusing, but, if you can get past the first 5 minutes or so, I think you'll love it too. This really is a treasure ready to be unearthed. Find yourself "a new leaf" today and you'll have a new perspective on life.

After burning through his trust fund, New York City playboy Walter Matthau must find a wealthy woman to marry or else lose everything, including his dignity; Elaine May (who also directed and adapted the screenplay from a short story by Jack Ritchie) is Matthau's target--a rich, klutzy plain-Jane botanist and bleeding heart. Not especially sharp (or satiric where it needed to be), but nevertheless a lot of fun. Matthau scores some big laughs; when he suddenly takes charge and fires May's thieving household staff, Matthau is comically forceful (a superb mixture which suits him). He even manages to make some of the lesser scenes (particularly a camping trip near the finish) amusing. May is sweetly frazzled and gives herself some good lines, yet she appears to understand this is Walter's movie and so allows him room to run the gamut from sneaky conniver to protective husband. The editing is noticeably ragged, with some scenes cut off too quickly and James Coco's role (as Matthau's uncle) amounting to little more than a cameo. However, when May gets her timing right and relies on the smart dialogue rather than the somewhat awkward physical comedy, the results are very appealing. **1/2 from ****