Grumpy Old Men

So by all accounts getting old sucks, right?  As I write this I'm 26 and can say honestly that growing up, having more responsibility and in general, being an adult sucks at times.  Wow, that's an uplifting lead to a review if there ever was one, huh?  I've got to write about something though, and that's as good as anything. Growing up -- at whatever age; kids, teenagers, adults, senior citizens -- is an easy start-off point for a comedy because life sure is funny at times, like 1993's Grumpy Old Men.

Maybe more than any other genre, comedies are usually niche-driven movies meaning they're intended for a very specific audience. Your typical R-rated movie? Not intended for the majority of the senior citizen crowd. Your average shoot 'em up action flick? Not meant for the faint of heart.  That was my thought with this 90s comedy that has developed into a fan favorite over the last 18 years, even producing a sequel a few years later. This is clearly a comedy intended for a different audience than most movies I watch. It is called Grumpy Old Men after all, right?  I was only slightly worried I wouldn't get some of the humor, but no worries here. Good comedy is good comedy regardless of how old you are.

In the tiny Minnesota town of Wabasha, next door neighbors Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) and John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) have been lifelong rivals.  Their fighting goes back to the 1930s when they were little kids growing up, and the rivalry has continued all these years since.  Now in their late 60s and early 70s, both Max and John have lost their wives, living in their big houses with nothing to do other than bitch and moan at each other, spending their days drinking beer and ice fishing.  The childish back and forth is nothing though for these two old professionals. A new neighbor is moving in across the street, Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), a widower and college professor new to the area. If the back and forth rivalry was heated before, it just got taken up a notch. Who can win the babely Ariel first?

I like smart comedies and stupid ones. I like comedies aimed at kids and those aimed at the more adult audience. Smart, silly, stupid, intellectual, slapstick, I'll watch anything.  Then there's this movie which is funny just because it is funny.  It never tries too hard, letting this decades old rivalry produce the humor naturally.  There is a sweetness to this rivalry though that makes it believable and even endearing to these two crotchety old guys. They fight, they bitch, they rip each other constantly, but somewhere in all that arguing is a friendship.  Both Max and John know each others' family and get along with them. They just happen to go back and forth with pranks and jokes that show no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Starring together in 1968's The Odd Couple, Lemmon and Matthau showed what great comedic chemistry they had together as warring roommates Felix and Oscar.  Well, apparently chemistry doesn't go away over 20-plus years because the biggest selling point by far from this comedy is the chemistry between these two comedic legends.  They play off each other like an old married couple, Max calling John a 'putz' (among other things, his first line is 'Hi, dickhead') with John responding with 'moron.' Throw a beautiful woman into the mix, and all bets are off.  It is an easy-going charm between Matthau and Lemmon that carries this movie, making it better than a typical growing old comedy. Definitely stick around for the end credits with a hilarious gag reel showing off all their missteps. If you can't wait, check it out HERE.

Some 15 years younger than Lemmon and almost 20 years younger than Matthau, Margret -- at just 52 years old but seemingly playing an older woman -- is still Ann-Margret.  Her character, Ariel, is still trying to move on after losing her husband some five years earlier, finding friendship and maybe more with Max and John. At the young age of 86, Hollywood legend Burgess Meredith plays Pop, John's father and all-around horndog, always trying to convince his son to keep his love life going. The character is hysterical, but his best part comes in the already mentioned gag reel, just great stuff.  Also starring are Kevin Pollak and Daryl Hannah as Jake, Max's son running for town mayor, and Melanie, John's daughter who is getting a divorce from her husband (Christopher McDonald). As if Matthau, Lemmon and Meredith weren't enough, there are also small parts for Ossie Davis as Chuck, Max and John's friend who always listens to them complain, and Buck Henry as an inquisitive IRS agent.

This is just one of those movies where you're going to like the humor or you're not. It can be dark at times -- Max and John pining about how sweet it would be to die in your sleep -- but most of the time it's just a good, old-fashioned movie. It is in no rush to get anywhere or deliver a message, instead being quite content to tell the story of two neighbors who like nothing more than making the other one's life miserable.  It's a funny, sweet comedy with a great cast and lots of laughs.

Grumpy Old Men <---trailer (1993): ***/****