Grumpy Old Men (film)

Grumpy Old Men
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
Edited by	Bonnie Koehler
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	December 25, 1993 (1993-12-25)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$35,100,000
Box office	$70,172,621

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, 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. This was the sixth film starring both Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and their first on-screen pairing since 1981's Buddy Buddy.

Plot

Retired school teacher and divorcee John Gustafson (Lemmon) and former TV repairman and widower Max Goldman (Matthau), are former childhood friends and longtime next-door neighbors in Wabasha, Minnesota. Their rivalry began decades earlier when John had "stolen" Max's high school sweetheart, May, with whom John went on to marry and have two children: daughter Melanie (Daryl Hannah), who is mother to his granddaughter Allie and who is separated from her husband Mike (Christopher McDonald), and son Brian, who was killed in the Vietnam War. Max went on to marry a woman named Amy and have one child: son Jacob (Kevin Pollak), who is a Wabasha politician who is running for (and eventually becomes) mayor of the town. Although John and Max agree that Amy was the best person for him in the end, and that John was unhappily married to May, Max still manages to harbor the grudge.

Despite their differences, both men lead similar boring and lonely single lives, and 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. John, however, has a problem that Max does not have: he owes tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, and is going to great lengths to avoid agent Elliot Snyder (Buck Henry), who is after him to try and collect.

One morning, moving vans come through the neighborhood and Max and John discover that someone has bought the house across the street from them. They find out who it is when both men are awakened at 1:30 AM by the sound of a snowmobile racing up and down the street. They see their beautiful new neighbor is college professor Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), a widow who quickly becomes the 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 94-year-old father (Burgess Meredith), who tells John that he should "mount her" as soon as possible. Chuck, to the amazement of everybody, takes the opportunity first, and after some good natured ribbing from Max and John he tells them of just how smitten he was and how they were fortunate to have her around.

Eventually, Ariel spends more and more time with John due to their shared intellectual interests and Max is having trouble processing the whole idea. In the process, Max also loses his prized fishing rod, which upsets him, and learns that Chuck has suddenly died. It is because of this that John and Max get into yet another scrap over Ariel, and because John is so frustrated he inadvertently opens the door to find Agent Snyder and is forced to meet with him. Things do not end all badly for John, however- Ariel decides to cook him dinner, and the two finish the evening with John's first sexual intercourse since 1978.

The next day, John decides to show Max some respect and return his fishing rod, which John's father snagged while he was fishing. Unamused, Max rams into John's shanty (while he is inside fishing) and pushes it into the portion of the lake where the ice is too thin, which causes it to sink into the water. Convinced Max has gone too far this time, John decides to figure out why he has been acting so strangely. Max accuses John of doublecrossing him again like he did with May, and John again reminds him of how much better he was off with Amy. Eventually the two resort to fisticuffs after John tells Max of Ariel's sexual prowess, and only stop when John's father orders them to because they are scaring away the fish. Although John appears to have won, Max reminds him that he will have nothing when the IRS takes his house and that he is too old to wait for another opportunity with a woman like Ariel. Max's attempt at shame works, and John breaks up with Ariel despite having fallen in love with her. Ariel is offended, telling John he would come to regret the decision, and eventually takes up with Max while John sinks into a deep depression.

Christmas Eve arrives and John is joined for dinner by Melanie and Allie. They are joined, much to John's disappointment, by Mike, whom Melanie has decided to give a second chance. Unhappy to see his son-in-law, and already feeling depressed due to everything else that had been going on, John expresses his displeasure with Melanie's decision and angrily tells off Mike, then storms out of the house and heads to the local bar. On his way out, John passes Jacob, who is concerned and heads over to talk to Melanie, who asks Jacob to try and get Max to talk to her father. Although Max is stunned to hear of what happened with Melanie, he refuses to go talk to John at the bar.

After some arm twisting, Max joins John at the bar where John is in denial about the reunion of his daughter and son-in-law. John is also not amused by Max's presence in the bar and does not really want to listen to anything he has to say. Max tries to thank him for finding his rod and returning it to him However, John does not care and finally comes clean about why he is upset, admitting his love for Ariel. However, he also says it does not make any difference because Max got what he wanted and decides to head home.

Max, unsatisfied, decides to take off after John to try and set things right. Unfortunately, by the time Max catches up to John, he finds him in a snow drift after having suffered a massive heart attack while walking back. Later, after seeing John in the hospital, Max decides to do the right thing by him and tells Ariel what happened the next morning. She rushes to his bedside, saying that she does not want to lose him because the holidays will not mean anything as her husband died near Easter. The two reconcile as he recovers.

Max also decides to help John out with his tax issues. After meeting with Agent Snyder, he discovers that John originally owed $13,000 but, with interest and penalties, the number is $57,000 and the only way this can be remedied is by selling the house at auction. Angry at the arrogance of the agent, Max takes matters into his own hands by barricading John's front door shut and throwing a dead fish in Snyder's car. He then gets Jacob to get a restraining order preventing Snyder from conducting the auction, and finally he buries Snyder under a snowpile he caused to fall off of John's roof.

Winter turns to spring and everyone in Wabasha is gathered at the local church. Jacob and Melanie reunite, with Melanie being newly single after reconsidering her decision to reunite with Mike and divorcing him. Although there seems to be a somber tone to the affair, implying that John had died from his heart attack and his funeral is being held, in reality it is a joyous occasion as John and Ariel get married. As a wedding gift, Max reveals to John that he was able to get his tax debt reduced to what he originally owed and that since he was able to raise the funds, he paid off the $13,000 himself. Max, however, proves that he has not fully gone soft on John and has left a little surprise in the limousine carrying the married couple away...his standby dead fish prank.

The day and the film end with Max heading off to a local dance at the VFW, leaving Jacob alone in the house. As luck would have it, Melanie is also home by herself and the two decide to make an attempt to find romance with each other.

Influence

The screenplay of Grumpy Old Men was written by Mark Steven Johnson, a film student at Winona State University (Minnesota) and was based upon the life of noted Winona State theater professor Vivian Fusillo. It is believed that the character of Max Goldman was based on former KWNO radio station owner and announcer Rod Hurd, who was dating Ms. Fusillo for a period in the 1970s. The name for Matthau's character would seem fitting as Hurd was often seen playing tennis, wearing a sun visor and driving a convertible while having a perpetual sun tan.

Cast

• Jack Lemmon as John Gustafson Jr.
• Walter Matthau as Max Goldman
• Ann-Margret as Ariel Truax
• Burgess Meredith as John Gustafson Sr.
• 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
• Steven Mark Hahn as Moving Man

Release

Grumpy Old Men was one of the biggest surprise hits of the year at the time of its release. The film opened on December 25, 1993 with a weekend gross of $3,874,911. However, its numbers gradually became stronger, earning a domestic total of $70 million, well above its budget of $35 million.

Critical reaction

The film was met with mixed to positive reviews by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 67 percent of 36 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.9 out of 10.

Caryn James of The New York Times called the film "the kind of holiday movie a lot of people are searching for." He went on to explain that this is because "It's cheerful, it's well under two hours and it doesn't concern any major social blights, unless you think Jack Lemmon tossing a dead fish into Walter Matthau's car is cause for alarm." Despite rating it with two stars out of four, and giving it a mixed review about the film's credibility and diction, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times concluded his review by saying that "Matthau and Lemmon are fun to see together, if for no other reason than just for the essence of their beings." Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times said, "Watching Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau sparring with each other in Grumpy Old Men is like watching an old vaudeville routine for the umpteenth time." Rainer added, "They play off their tics and wheezes with the practiced ease of old pros but there's something a bit too chummy and self-congratulatory about it all."

American Film Institute recognition:

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

Home video

Grumpy Old Men was first released on DVD on June 25, 1997. On August 22, 2006, the film was made available in a DVD "Double Feature" pack along with its sequel Grumpier Old Men. On July 7, 2009, the film was made available by itself on Blu-ray. The "Double Feature" pack was later released onto Blu-ray on February 23, 2010. The Blu-ray releases marked the first time both films have been available in widescreen since the LaserDisc releases. None of the Blu-ray releases contain any special features.

External links

• Grumpy Old Men at IMDb
• Grumpy Old Men at the TCM Movie Database
• Grumpy Old Men at AllMovie
• Grumpy Old Men at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Grumpy Old Men at Rotten Tomatoes