Truly Dreadful Film

The first must-see film of the year.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Grumpy Old Men (1993): Dir: Donald Petrie / Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Ossie Davis, Burgess Meredith: Quirky comedy about how age and mentality catches up with oneself. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau plays bickering neighbors whose rivalry goes back several decades. Lemmon is single and has a grown son but he conceals the reality that his house is about to be repossessed after thirty days. Matthau loves to fish and has a grown daughter where a romance is hinted between the two grown children. Central plot regards the arrival of a new neighbor, played with great spunk and energy by Ann- Margret. She arrives rolling about semi-nude in the snow at the bewilderment of our grumpy old men. Eventually she introduces herself to both but thankfully the screenplay avoids turning into a competition for her affections. Other roles are not so broad. Ossie Davis is featured as a shop owner who observes and provides advice when convenient. Burgess Meredith provides a laugh or two as Lemmon's obviously older than life father. Directed by Donald Petrie who previously made Mystic Pizza. It presents a theme of living life despite one's age but it also plays off the need to arrive at forgiveness and coming to the aid of those in need as oppose to cause further damage. In the end these two realize that under those grumpy expressions is a love and respect anxious to surface. Score: 9 ½ / 10

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Kevin Pollack, Daryl Hannah, Ozzie Davis and Burgess Meredith star in this 1993 comedy. This takes place in Minnesota during winter where we meet retired men, John Gustafson (Lemmon) and Max Goldman (Matthau). They're both widowers and neighbors who have been feuding with each other for years because they loved the same woman. It's about to escalate when they meet attractive, new neighbor, Ariel Truax (Margret) who is a widow and try to win her heart. Pollack (The Usual Suspects) plays Max's son, Jacob who finds romance with John's daughter, Melanie (Hannah), the late, Davis plays bait shop owner, Chuck and the late, Meredith (Rocky) plays John Sr. I've always enjoyed this film, Lemmon & Matthau were great in it as usual and the rest of the cast is great as well. I recommend this.

Grumpy Old Men focuses on the town of Wabasha, Minnesota, where two bickering elderly residents reside and consistently bicker with one another. They are retired teacher and widower John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and retired repairman and fellow widower Max Goldman (Walter Matthau), whose friendship as children ended when John dated and married Max's crush in high school.Now, such a rivalry reaches critical mass when an attractive eccentric named Ariel (Ann-Margret) moves across the street and steals the eye of both men. Both John and Max are smitten with the woman and try to find ways to earn her friendship and maybe even her hand. However, both men are far past their prime in terms of relationships, but John and Max can put many fighting youngsters to shame with the way they try and get back at one another.Such a film would not be half as memorable or fun if the leads weren't the legendary screen actors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film pulls of its hardest job effortlessly because of them and that job is making both men truly seem like lifelong rivals who have a subtle but present soft-spot for one another. Lemmon and Matthau manage to achieve a shockingly believable relationship in that regard, and their performances mimic the kind that would've been present in early black and white cinema or even the Vaudeville days.Both of their performances require energy that some would assume would be far past their years. But, as usual, Lemmon and Matthau defy the odds and commit to hilarious performances of sweetness, sourness, and true comedic talent. One mustn't forget the talent possessed by Ann-Margret as well, who handles the female character "stuck in the middle of lunacy" role to strong effect, especially in the more dramatic scenes. Consider when she gets her lengthy monologue with John about how him and Max need to stop fighting each other. It's a scene of surprising emotional honesty thanks to writer Mark Steven Johnson's refusal to make the monologue too sentimental.Johnson, who would later find some success writing and directing films based on lesser-known superheros, keeps the film heavy on humor and relatively minimal on the inclusion of emotionally manipulative sequences in the film. First and foremost, the film remembers it's a comedy and refuses to compromise its title for frequent and contrived dramatic instances. However, when the drama does roll around, it's handled in a pleasantly modest way (especially towards the end, when the film goes for broke in a sequence that shows humanness to the fullest degree).Grumpy Old Men can easily be criticized for having a plot like a sitcom and rather ordinary direction by Donald Petrie, who refuses to do much with the story visually other than capture the snowy landscape of Wabasha, Minnesota. However, like many comedies with high-profile actors, it may be easy to critique the plot's contrivances, but it's hard to fault the actors for being so committed to a project they inherently fit into well. Lemmon and Matthau captures the soulful energy of bickering neighbors wonderfully and that's worth the price of admission alone.Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Kevin Pollak. Directed by: Donald Petrie.

Grumpy Old Men is directed by Donald Petrie and written by Mark Steven Johnson. It stars Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Ann-Margret, Kevin Pollack, Burgess Meredith, Ossie Davis, Daryl Hannah and Buck Henry. Music is by Alan Silvestri and cinematography by Johnny E. Jensen.A lifelong feud between two neighbours has been continuing since for ever. Now in the twilight of their lives, things get worse when a new female neighbour moves across the street.A perennially fun viewing experience, one that boasts a wonderfully mature cast having a good time in the process. It would be easy to decry the formula, the trajectory of where it will go, and maybe stand tall and proclaim the writing isn't up to the standard of a Wilder or Simon movie, but that's kind of missing the point. It's a new era of film and the makers of Grumpy Old Men have tailored it to suit impressively the twin talents of Matthau and Lemmon. Both of whom are wonderful, their chemistry set in cement, their timing and reactions to scripting an utter joy. It's not without problems, anyone can see that, especially when the film veers onto the drama path, but the comedy over rides it all to leave a adult friendly holiday movie full of warmth and chuckles. 7/10