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| Grumpy Old Men - 1993 |
Happy New Year! After a brief Christmas/New Year's hiatus, we are back. Our next film is 1993's "Grumpy Old Men", an appropriately winter-themed film that showcases two legendary comedy geniuses as they spar with one another over the attentions of their next-door neighbor.
The film's cast includes Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Ossie Davis, Buck Henry, and Christopher McDonald.
Our film is set in the wintery wonderland of Wabasha, Minnesota, where one of the big local pastimes is ice fishing.
Former best friends and current next-door neighbors John Gustafson (left) and Max Goldman (right) are constantly at each other's throats. They trade barbs and hurl insults at each other all the time.
And this rivalry only intensifies when they meet Ariel Truax, a newcomer to Wabasha. She's unlike anything the two gents have ever seen before, and she has a way of making each of them feel more alive.
Naturally, the two guys enjoy ice fishing with the rest of the town. Their respective shanties on the lake couldn't be more different. Max listens/watches a fuzzy TV, while John plays classical music on a phonograph whilst sitting in a comfortable easy chair.
In town, the guys try and top each other's stories at the pharmacy. While comparing stories about pain, Max says "You want to talk about pain? When I had my ulcers, I was...farting razorblades."
And they can't resist playing practical jokes on each other, such as when Max messed with John's TV by using his own remote to switch channels from his house. John isn't without his own tricks, such as in this scene when he puts a rotting fish in the back of Max's car. Max can hardly stand it as he tries to figure out where the horrible smell is coming from. He nearly causes an accident with a UPS truck. Thinking the UPS truck is in the wrong, Max simply says, "Watch it, bonehead."
John and Ariel eventually become quite serious, and the two see a lot of each other. John is thrilled to be finally getting some action in his love life.
However, Max doesn't quite see it the same way. He gets upset that John is "stealing" Ariel away from him, and he attacks him out on the ice by using a frozen fish as a makeshift dagger.
They have to be broken up by John's father, who says, "Kids! Can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em."
Eventually, things work out. John and Max bury the hatchet and resume their friendship. John and Ariel get married with Max's blessing, and the two drive off in a limousine after their wedding.
Max can't resist getting in one last practical joke. John smells a familiar, horrible odor in the limousine. Suddenly, the car comes to a stop and the window rolls down. John waves a dead, rotting fish in the air and tosses it into the street.
Max, from his place at the church, looks on feeling very pleased with himself.
Cast rundown:
Jack Lemmon...................................John Gustafson
Walter Matthau.................................Max Goldman
Ann-Margret.....................................Ariel Truax
Burgess Meredith..............................Grandpa Gustafson
Daryl Hannah...................................Melanie
Kevin Pollak.....................................Jacob Goldman
Ossie Davis......................................Chuck
Buck Henry.......................................Elliot Snyder
Christopher McDonald........................Mike
And that's it for Grumpy Old Men. This film makes the sixth of ten films that starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film was actually shot in the freezing temperatures of Wabasha, Minnesota. As a result, Walter Matthau was hospitalized with double pneumonia at the end of filming.
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