Matthau is divorced with a teenage daughter Candice (Kristen Vigard). Williams is childless but engaged to Annie McEnroe. Matthau and Williams are again threatened by Reed. Williams loses his mind, becomes a gun nut, and joins a survivalist camp in the woods. Because is a movie, Matthau and Candice eventually join him there, and Reed arrives days later, ostensibly to kill both Matthau and Williams. Although what Reed actually intends to do is never as clear as what he says he will do.
How others will see it. The Survivors did not survive long at the box office, and it was ignored by film festivals. Today, it is of interest mostly for the fans of the two leads, Williams and Matthau. Matthau's best known collaboration was with Jack Lemmon, and Williams was certainly capable of filling Lemmon's shoes. In terms of chemistry, the potential was there.
But at imdb.com, the film has a pidly 5K user votes and a low user rating of 5.8 out of 10. There is no demographic spread, so it appears that most viewers were disappointed by the movie, while not rejecting it completely.
The user reviews are a mixed bag. Some recognize that the film has issues, but still enjoy watching the reliable Matthau and Williams at work. But, the consensus is that the movie has its moments yet falls short overall.
How I felt about it. The obvious observation is that Walter Matthau is too old to be credible as the father of 16 year old Candice (though the actress playing her was 20). It isn't believable that Candice enjoys herself thoughout, even during the several moments when her life is in danger. In fact, there is no reason for her to be in the movie, except to provide eye candy for viewers.
The second observation is that Jerry Reed isn't much of a hitman. Whatever his strange game may be, he is consistently unsuccessful at it. Mostly, he gets into a lot of trouble. His character, the ineffectual hitman, doesn't work either.
The basic premise of the movie is that Robin Williams trains to become a gun nut survivalist. But he needs a motive to do so. If it is out of fear of hitman Jerry Reed, then why provoke him by going on television, or telling him off over the phone, etc. Williams the actor seems to enjoy the character, and doesn't care about whether his transition makes sense, from an upper management executive with an attractive fiancée to a bumbling survivalist.
So, he plays both characters the same: zany and tragic. He does zany well, and is at least sympathetic when tragic, but it's still not enough. He needs to be credible as well. That he is not, is not the fault of Williams. The problem is partly with director Michael Ritchie but mostly with the screenwriter, Michael Leeson.
That leaves Walter Matthau. Mostly, his character works, but there are exceptions. The late middle-aged Matthau knocks Williams out, ties him up, and tortures him, unlikely actions indeed. And it should be noted that these are criminal actions.
But Matthau shouldn't have gone to the survivalist camp in the first place. It is clear by then that Williams is nuts, and can't be relied upon. Matthau is unemployed, anyway. Why not simply leave town and start anew in a distant city? Reed is unlikely to keep looking for him.
Despite all its problems, The Survivors is better than it should be. This is due to the competence of the actors and the director, who take what they are given and try to get the most out of it. They deserve a better script and a more cohesive story. Writer Leeson's career was primarily writing scripts for half-hour sitcoms, which come to 18 minutes per episode once the commercials are removed. He was the wrong man for the job.