Grumpy Old Men (film)

Grumpy Old Men (film)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Donald Petrie
Produced by	John Davis Richard C. Berman
Written by	Mark Steven Johnson
Starring	Jack Lemmon Walter Matthau Ann-Margret Burgess Meredith Daryl Hannah Kevin Pollak
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	John E. Jensen
Editing by	Bonnie Koehler
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 25, 1993 (1993-12-25)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$35,100,000
Box office	$70,000,000

Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ossie Davis, and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote the sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995). The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri.

Plot

Retired school teacher and divorcee John Gustafson (Lemmon) and former TV repairman and widower Max Goldman (Matthau) have been next door neighbors in Wabasha, Minnesota for decades, but have not been friends since childhood. Their rivalry began many years earlier when John had stolen Max's high school sweetheart, May, with whom John went on to marry and have two children with, daughter Melanie (Daryl Hannah) and son Brian (who died in Vietnam). Max went on to marry a woman named Amy, with whom he had his son Jacob (Kevin Pollak). Despite both men agreeing that Amy was the best thing to happen to Max, with John freely admitting his 20-year marriage to May was miserable, Max never forgave John for what he did to him.

While both men lead similar boring and lonely single lives, they share a mutual love of the Minnesota winter pastime of ice fishing, as well as competing, arguing, insulting, and pulling cruel practical jokes on each other whenever possible. A subplot of the film involves John's ongoing issues with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), owing thousands in back taxes, and his desperate attempts to avoid field agent Elliot Snyder (Buck Henry).

Max and John see the house for sale across the street is being moved into, but do not know who the new neighbor is until both are awoken at 1:30 AM by the sound of a snowmobile racing up and down the street. Their beautiful new neighbor is college professor Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), who quickly becomes talk of the town with her exuberant lifestyle and bizarre tactics to get to know her new neighbors. Their mutual lifelong friend Chuck (Ossie Davis), who owns the lakeside bait shop advises that they take advantage of the opportunity, as does John's father (Burgess Meredith), who wants to know why his son hasn't "mounted" Ariel yet, but both men publicly act indifferent over the prospect.

When Thanksgiving arrives, John's daughter Melanie is separating from her husband Mike (Christopher McDonald), while Max's single son Jacob is running for mayor of Wabasha. Both admit to have shared a mutual attraction to each other for years, but lament not pursuing a relationship. John and Max peer longingly out their windows at Ariels' house, and see Chuck arrive at her place with roses and chocolates. The next day, both men speed to the bait shop to ask what happened. Chuck explains that there was no sex, but describes being with Ariel was like being young again. Both men then decide to ask Ariel on a date. Max beats John over to Ariel's house, and goes with Ariel ice fishing the next day. John goes to the bait shop, finding it closed and padlocked, and learns that Chuck has died in his sleep. When Max arrives home, gloating over his "victory" with Ariel, John informs him that Chuck has passed, and after nearly coming to blows, both men go inside to deal with their grief. John then angrily answers a knock at his door and finds Elliot Snyder, the IRS Agent who he had been avoiding. After arriving back home later that evening, he finds Ariel in the kitchen cooking a meal for both of them. It seems Ariel has more of a connection to John, due in part to their careers in education. Both continue to enjoy fun and intimate moments with each other, culminating with Ariel deciding to stay over, and John has sex for the first time since October 4, 1978.

The next morning, Max sees a jubilant Ariel coming out of John's house. Angry, he goes ice fishing and gets drunk, when he sees an equally happy John. Enraged, Max pushes the feud to the next level by using his truck to push John's ice shanty towards thin ice with John still in it. John angrily confronts Max, who accuses John of stealing Ariel like he did years earlier with May. After the skirmish is broken up by 94-year-old John Sr., Max painfully reminds John of his tax problems, and that he cannot wait around for another Amy. John decides to let Max "win" and breaks up with Ariel, who does not take the news well.

John enters a depression that only worsens when Max and Ariel begin spending time together. To make matters worse, on Christmas Eve, his daughter Melanie comes over with her estranged husband Mike, whom John is not fond of. After arguing with Mike, John abruptly leaves and heads to a local tavern. Jacob shows up to wish "Merry Christmas" to Melanie, when she asks if he can help get their fathers to make peace for Christmas. Jacob demands Max to end the feud, and go make peace. Max has no idea that John is depressed over Ariel, and when Max's half-hearted peacemaking efforts prove futile, John questions Max's love for Ariel and leaves. Finally realizing that John loves Ariel, Max leaves moments later to finish the conversation, but finds John in a snowdrift suffering a massive heart attack. While John clings to life in a hospital, Max decides to call off the feud, break off his relationship with Ariel, and tell her everything. She then goes to the hospital and reconciles with him.

While John is recovering, an unsympathetic Mr. Snyder discloses to Max that John owes $57,000 due to penalties and interest, and plans to get the money by selling his house. Max then barricades John's front door, and gets Jacob, now mayor of Wabasha, to get an injunction against the IRS from seizing John's property. John and Ariel marry several months later, as Max helps pay John's taxes, thanks to Jacob's getting the penalties and interest waived and Max putting up the $13,000 he owes as a loan. That night, Max goes to a VFW event in hopes of meeting a woman. His son, Jacob, takes that opportunity to go to John's house to visit Melanie.

Cast

• Jack Lemmon as John Gustafson
• Walter Matthau as Max Goldman
• Ann-Margret as Ariel Truax
• Burgess Meredith as Grandpa Gustafson (J.W.)
• Daryl Hannah as Melanie Gustafson
• Kevin Pollak as Jacob Goldman
• Ossie Davis as Chuck (Bait Shop Owner)
• Buck Henry as Elliott Snyder (IRS Agent)
• Christopher McDonald as Mike
• Steve Cochran as Weatherman
• Joe Howard as Pharmacist
• John Carroll Lynch as Moving Man
• David James Carlson as Other Moving Man

Reception

Grumpy Old Men was one of the biggest surprise hits of the year at the time of its release. It earned a domestic total of $70 million, well above its budget of $35 million. It has also been noted as one of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's best films by many and has retained a strong following over the years on home video and television. Both Lemmon and Matthau, who were more or less retired by this time, enjoyed a rebirth of their careers due to the movie's success. They continued to work steadily until their deaths by the end of the decade.

The film retains a "Fresh" rating of 67% at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 34 reviews.

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - Nominated

Bonus scenes

Several scenes involve Jack Lemmon and Burgess Meredith at the window, watching Chuck woo Ariel. The scene in the film involved Meredith making a remark about sex, saying Chuck was "taking ol' one-eye to the optometrist", and Lemmon keeping it together. The blooper reel included an alternate version of this scene that did not make the final cut, wherein Lemmon struggles not to laugh.

After the closing credits, a bonus scene appears in which Walter Matthau supposedly breaks the fourth wall. While taking a bath, he looks to the viewers and says, "If I knew there was a nude scene in this picture, I would have asked for another million!"

External links

• Grumpy Old Men at the Internet Movie Database
• Grumpy Old Men at AllRovi
• Grumpy Old Men at the TCM Movie Database