Grumpier Old Men (1995)

 

Grumpier Old Men - 1995

Coming up next is 1995's "Grumpier Old Men".  In this sequel to "Grumpy Old Men", we see longtime pals Max and John up to their old hijinks.  An elusive catfish has been spotted in the area, and Max faces off with a tough Italian businesswoman.

The film's cast includes Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Sophia Loren, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, and Ann Morgan Guilbert.

Longtime friends and fishing buddies John Gustafson and Max Goldman are excited.  They are sure that this is the year that they will snag Catfish Hunter, an elusive catfish, on their fishing lines.

John's father is also pretty excited about it, too.  He sits on a sofa on the banks of the lake, drinking beer, and fishing to his heart's content.

The town of Wabasha, Minnesota is changing fast.  Max is initially excited about the new changes, namely a lovely Italian named Maria.  He becomes less than enthused when he discovers that she will be turning his favorite bait shop into an Italian "ristorante".

"People are not gonna come down here for Italian (EYE-talian) when we got a Chuck E. Cheese right in town," he tells her matter-of-factly.

And so begins a sour relationship between the two of them.  Their carts crash at the supermarket, and so do their personalities.  They call each other "ox" and "nag".

Maria is really a very nice lady, and she wants nothing more than to settle down in a nice town and make a life for herself.

It's all-out war when Max enlists the help of John to get Maria a bad report from the health inspector.

John's wife Ariel sends him to apologize for his behavior.  However, he had too much to drink and passes out at Maria's restaurant.  She has him take a hot shower before he heads home.  Ariel arrives and thinks the worst.  Of course, nothing happened, but it doesn't do good things for John and Max's friendship.  Max is secretly in love with Maria.

The icy relationship between Max and Maria thaws when they spend a little time together, and Max finds out what a good fisherwoman she is.

He gets the most ridiculous grin on his face after their first date.  John just rolls his eyes.

John and Max's friendship sours over a disagreement involving the wedding of their children.  The gloves come off with a vengeance.

Max gets a new dog named Lucky to get rid of John's cat Slick, who likes to go to the bathroom on Max's newspaper.

Things get heated up.  A duel is fought on the front lawn with fishing poles.  The animals just watch in disbelief.

The death of John's father brings them closer together.  John and Max stand on the edge of the lake remembering the old man and renewing their bonds of friendship.

The days go by and Max and Maria get engaged.  On the day of their wedding, things don't go exactly according to plan.  As they make their way to the church, John and Max hear a report that Catfish Hunter has been sighted in the lake.  Not wanting to miss an opportunity to catch the elusive fish, they get their gear and head to the water.

Of course, they catch him.  John decides to release the fish back into the lake so that he can live to swim another day.

The two of them hurry off to the church for Max's wedding to Maria.  "My son-in-law has the face of a mackerel," sniffles Maria's mother.

Just like Max did at John's wedding to Ariel, John has planned a surprise for the newly married couple.  He sneaks Max's stinky dog Lucky into the limousine.  Max and Maria, initially startled by the smell, start laughing.

And so does, John, who watches their departure with a grin on his face.

Cast rundown:

   Jack Lemmon................................John Gustafson

   Walter Matthau..............................Max Goldman

   Sophia Loren.................................Maria Ragetti

   Ann-Margret..................................Ariel Gustafson

   Burgess Meredith...........................Grandpa Gustafson

   Daryl Hannah.................................Melanie

   Kevin Pollak...................................Jacob Goldman

   Ann Morgan Guilbert.......................Mama Ragetti

And that's it for Grumpier Old Men.  There was supposed to be another film in the "Grumpy Old Men" series.  It was to have taken place in Rome.  The storyline would have seen Maria's former husband contest her marriage to Max on the basis that their divorce was never finalized.  However, the film never got past the planning stage.

Can I tell you how much this shot makes me laugh?  It features Walter Matthau on the lake during the opening credits.  If you stick around during the closing credits of the film, you can see some hilarious outtakes.

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Grumpy Old Men (1993)

 

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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