Grumpier Old Men

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Grumpier Old Men

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard Deutch
Produced by John Davis
Richard C. Berman
Written by Mark Steven Johnson
Starring Jack Lemmon
Walter Matthau
Ann-Margret
Ann Guilbert
Sophia Loren
Kevin Pollak
Daryl Hannah
Burgess Meredith
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography Tak Fujimoto
Editing by Billy Weber
Seth Flaum
Maryann Brandon
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • December 22, 1995 (1995-12-22)
Running time 101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Italian
Budget $25 million
Box office $71,518,503

Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert. Grumpier Old Men was directed by Howard Deutch, with the screenplay written by Mark Steven Johnson and the original music score composed by Alan Silvestri. The film was Meredith's final motion picture appearance. He was already suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had to be gently coached through his role in the film.

Plot

The lifelong feud between Max (Walter Matthau) and John (Jack Lemmon) has cooled. (They continue to call each other "moron" and "putz", but now with affection.) Their children, Melanie (Daryl Hannah) and Jacob (Kevin Pollak), who grew up together, have become engaged after a brief relationship. Meanwhile, John is enjoying his marriage to wife Ariel (Ann-Margret).

The spring and summer fishing season is in full swing in Wabasha, Minnesota, with the annual quest to catch "Catfish Hunter", the lake's largest catfish, consuming the fishing community. However, the local bait shop closed after the death of its proprietor Chuck in the first film. New arrival to Wabasha, Maria Ragetti (Sophia Loren), has purchased the building with the intent of converting it into a fancy Italian restaurant. Not wanting to lose memory of Chuck's bait shop, Max and John join forces to try to sabotage the restaurant. They are successful with their cruel practical jokes in keeping others away from trying Maria's restaurant. However when Ariel learns the truth, she tells John to apologize to Maria at once. He eventually does, but passes out at the restaurant. Max and Maria begin dating due to their shared passion in fishing, while Francesca (Ann Morgan Guilbert) dates John's father(Burgess Meredith).

To complicate things further, Jacob and Melanie's wedding plans are causing the couple stress because of their fathers' apparent inability to plan a proper wedding and call off their engagement. Upon hearing the news, John and Max call off their truce and reignite their feud. However, it causes Ariel stress to the point she leaves John and moves back into her old home with Melanie until he and Max calls off their feud. At the restaurant, Maria's mother, Francesca is worried that the more she spends time with Max, the more she'll get hurt by him. She reminds her daughter of her five failed marriages and her fears of Max making it six. After being convinced to take a long look at herself, Maria reluctantly stops seeing Max at Francesca's request.

Distraught over losing Ariel, John heads down to the lake for his father, John Sr.'s advice. He becomes devastated when he finds he had died in the same fishing spot. Days after his father's funeral, John and Max calls off their feud again when they bond over John Sr. After realizing that their own inability to properly plan a wedding is what drove their kids to call off the wedding, Max and John once more join forces to set things right. They help Jacob reconcile with Melanie, John reunites with Ariel and Max rekindles his relationship with Maria, whom he marries at the end of the movie. Due to Max's extensive knowledge of the types of bait for fish, Ragetti's becomes a joint Italian restaurant and bait shop.

Subplots

Like the first movie, several subplots are explored, like Jacob and Melanie's struggles to keep their cool as they become more stressed and frustrated over both John and Max's inability to properly plan an appropriate wedding.

A preschool Allie's struggles to accept Jacob as a part of her life after her parents' divorce. She soon accepts him and helps John and Max to bring Jacob and Melanie back together.

John's father commenting that while many people he had come to know had passed on, he questions whether God forgot about him. He soon dies on the same fishing spot, which John commented "Looks like God remembered you, pop."! Unlike his first plans for the all the women in the first movie, John Sr.'s perverted side is largely due to him wanting to have a relationship with Francesca Ragetti. He eventually succeeds with her finally being charmed by his overtures and she leaves a rose in the lake.

Max stops by to speak to Maria to find out what was going on to find out she was married 5 times and that was the reason the relationship ended. Max previously became aware in one of her failed marriages and it was implied that John told him about Antonio. Then Max explained to her that he is loyal, honest and knows how to treat a lady. He then proceeds to convince Francesca to give him a chance to treat Maria right.

On the way to the wedding, John and Max makes a side trip to catch Catfish Hunter. Though they succeed, John convinces Max to return Catfish Hunter to the lake as his father tried to catch him for over 20 years and both of them deserve to be in the lake together.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Grumpier Old Men grossed $71 million at the North American box office, against a production budget of $25 million.[1][2] While some have said that this was less successful than the original, Grumpier Old Men beat its predecessor's total of $70 million and cost $10 million less to make than the original.

Critical response

The film received negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 18% based on reviews from 17 critics.[3]

[4] Roger Ebert gives the film a score of 2 out of 4 stars.[5] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described the film as contrived and getting by on the star power of the cast.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Weekend Box Office : 'Exhale' Blows Down the Competition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01. 
  2. ↑ "Weekend Box Office : Rosy News for Hollywood, 'Monkeys'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01. 
  3. ↑ https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grumpier_old_men/
  4. ↑ "FILM REVIEW;2 Short Fuses Pressing Their Luck". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01. 
  5. ↑ Roger Ebert (December 22, 1995). "Grumpier Old Men". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01. 
  6. ↑ KEVIN THOMAS (December 22, 1995). "MOVIE REVIEW : Stars Add Luster to 'Men's' Contrived Tale". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-01. 

External links

Films directed by Howard Deutch
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