Waking up beside his wife and bored with his life, seafood restaurant owner Barney Cashman finds the flirtation of Elaine Navazio appealing enough that he arranges a rendezvous at his mother's apartment.

Roger Greenspun of The New York Times said: "In the dismal history of Neil Simon screenplays and adaptations for the screen, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers may represent the lowest ebb.

The absence of the word 'very' is the principal difference between the two versions and as Doc Simon himself handled the transition, the only excuse for the drop in laughter volume is, possibly, over-familiarity.

"[4] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times agreed, writing, "After the stunning confrontation of Arkin and Sally Kellerman, everything else is a bit of a letdown."

"[1] In his annual Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin gave the film a BOMB rating, calling it "a shoddy production for which the term 'photographed stage play' must have been invented.