Michael Caine and Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Secondhand Lions – it’s all Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, with Haley Joel Osment as a catalyst.
My Favorite Year is about Peter O’Toole and Mark Linn-Baker.
Gods and Monsters – Ian McKellan and Brendan Fraser.
The Last King of Scotland – Forrest Whitaker and James McAvoy
Thank you for that reminder. Watching it now…
Deathtrap
The Duellists
Inherit the Wind
Misery
Of Mice and Men
QB VII (although it was a TV miniseries not a movie)
Scarecrow
The original “saw” was about two characters locked in a room.
First one that springs to run was *Midnight Run *with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. On paper, it’s a standard ‘odd couple’ type comedy where the humour comes from how unlike the two lead characters are and therefore how much they annoy each other (De Niro plays a bounty hunter trying to bring Grodin back to LA under the noises of both the Feds and the Mob). However, both De Niro and Grodin do a fantastic job both in adding depth to their individual characters but also in the way they relate to each other.
My first thought, but I’m not sure if it quaifies as ‘not a love story.’
I was going to say A Life in the Theatre but clearly my memory is going because not only was this a Great Performances television broadcast rather than a movie but whereas I would have sworn blind it was Richard Dreyfuss performing with Matthew Broderick, it turns out to have been Jack Lemmon instead. I R old and senile.
But it’s still a great two-hander - I saw Patrick Stewart (excellent) and Joshua Jackson (meh) doing it on stage a few years back. Stewart is now doing it again with T R Knight.
Time After Time–H G Wells & Jack the Ripper
All of Me–Lily Tomlin & Steve Martin (who should have gotten the Oscar!)
The Defiant Ones with Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis.
Meh - I think too much of the plot involves the girl for it to be a great two-character story…
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Tim Roth and Gary Oldman.
How is BADLANDS not a love story?
Glad I re-read the OP before I suggested this one.
Ohmygosh, yes!
I’m loving the suggestions, everyone!
I’m adding Sweet Smell of Success - Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.
*Agony and the Ecstasy *- Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison
Lion in Winter - Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn (an exception for me where it isn’t a love story but the two characters are married – a true test of wills between two power-house actors)
Papillon - Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman
Equus - Richard Burton and Peter Firth
Elephant Man - Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt
Wall Street - Michael Caine and Charlie Sheen
*Remains of the Day *- Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson (yeah, kind of a muted love story although never consummated)
Seriously, though. I’d nominate the sequel, Bogus Journey, as one of the better movies with 2 main characters.
Yeah, but Harrison Ford is clearly the main character since they spend a lot of time with him on his own and the movie is named after his character.
I’ll also add:
In Bruges - Ray and Ken are both main characters and drive the narrative. Very funny and touching.
No love for Planes Trains and Automobiles?
Heavenly Creatures–the story of two teenage girls who have a really intense friendship and end up murdering one girl’s mother when their friendship is threatened. Based on a true story. One of my favorite films of all time.
Silence of the Lambs: Foster and Hopkins
Rear Window: Stewart and Kelly
Cape Fear: both versions
I don’t necessarily see these character-driven films. Yes, they involve two strong characters, but the thrust of the films is not the arc of the characters but external plot devices.