Grumpy (and Grumpier) Old Men

Grumpy (and Grumpier) Old Men

Obsession Level: Started Out Great and Got Better!

Today I'm going to talk about two movies.  I know it's more than one topic, but they're related, so it counts.  The two movies are Grumpy Old Men starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Ann-Margret, and Grumpier Old Men starring the same three, but also adding the beautiful Sophia Loren.  


The movies center around two men, two neighbors, who have had a life of feuding.  The men pretend to hate one another, but it's a love-hate relationship since it's clear that they're also best friends.  They are both ornery old men.  John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) has his daughter Melanie (Daryl Hannah) and his father (Burgess Meredith).  Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) lives alone but has his son, Jacob (Kevin Pollak) close by.  The feud between John and Max generally circles around a giant fish that they want to catch called Catfish Hunter.  It is fueled however, first by the romance between their children, and later by the arrival of the beautiful and somewhat flaky Ariel (Ann-Margret) to town.  The two men immediately start fighting over who will get to woo Ariel.  I won't tell you anymore, since it would spoil the movie if you haven't seen it yet.  ;-)


The movie is full of laughs and all the characters are perfect in their roles.  Lemmon and Matthau are classics, and they are hilarious.  Ann-Margret is beautiful, as always, and is easily seen as worth fighting over.  She is also very good at playing her somewhat flaky, aloof, and artsy role.  She does sculptures, including a nude of Lemmon.  


In my opinion, Burgess Meredith did a really great job and he was one of my favorite characters.  He's the beer drinking, smoking old man who spends his time sitting down by the lake on an old couch.  Almost all of his lines are hilarious!  I loved him!

The second movie, Grumpier Old Men, came out two years later in 1995.  The original cast returned.  The neighbors are still feuding, of course, and they're still "secret" best friends.  John is now married to his sculptress wife Ariel, but Max is alone.  He spends his evenings at home eating macaroni and cheese and watching Geraldo.  


Then Maria Sophia Coletta Ragetti (Sophia Loren) and her mother (Ann Morgan Guilbert) move to town to take over the old bait shop.  The men go down to investigate and find out that she is determined to turn their bait shop into an Italian restaurant.  They decide to join forces to stop it from happening.  The only thing that stands in their way is the tension of the possible/budding romance between Maria and Max.  


As with the first movie, the cast really  makes this movie.  The addition of the lovely Sofia Loren is just a bonus.  She's great in her role and she plays well opposite Matthau in the scenario that they might form a relationship with one another.  The banter is hilarious!  Her mother is a great addition to the movie as well, since she's the perfect fiery little Italian woman.


Both of these movies are a must see, though I do have to admit that I am partial to the second one.