Grumpier Old Men

Last updated
Grumpier Old Men
Grumpier old menposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard Deutch
Written by Mark Steven Johnson
Produced by John Davis
George Folsey Jr.
Richard C. Berman
Starring
Cinematography Tak Fujimoto
Edited by Billy Weber
Seth Flaum
Maryann Brandon
Music by Alan Silvestri
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • December 22, 1995 (1995-12-22)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million
Box office$71.5 million [1]

Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 American romantic comedy film and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men , directed by Howard Deutch, and a screenplay written by Mark Steven Johnson. The original score is composed by Alan Silvestri. Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak and Katie Sagona reprise their roles from the previous film. It is Meredith's final film before his death in 1997.

Contents

Plot

The feud between Max and John has cooled and they have become good friends. Their children, Melanie and Jacob, have become engaged. Meanwhile, John is enjoying his marriage to new wife Ariel. John and Max still call each other "moron" and "putz", respectively, but with friendly intentions.

The spring and summer fishing season is in full swing with the annual quest to catch "Catfish Hunter", an unusually large catfish that seems to enjoy eluding anyone who tries to catch it. However, the local bait shop closed after Chuck, the previous owner, died. Maria Ragetti has purchased the property with the intent of converting it into a fancy Italian restaurant.

Irritated that it will no longer be a bait shop, Max and John join forces to sabotage the restaurant. They are successful at first with their practical jokes. However, when Ariel learns what is going on, she tells John to apologize to Maria, and he does after Ariel kicks him out of the house. Max and Maria begin dating after discovering a shared passion for fishing, while her mother Francesca dates John's father J.W.

To further complicate things, Jacob and Melanie call off their engagement due to stress from their parents' involvement. On hearing the news, John and Max reignite their feud and return to their childish pranks, such as John cutting a hole in Max's fishing net and detaching the anchor to his boat. Max retaliates by disconnecting John's motor from his boat and broadcasting him nude (while Ariel was making a clay sculpture of him) at a Sears department store. Ariel is stressed because of it and leaves John until things settle down. At the restaurant, Francesca is worried about the amount of time that Maria spends with Max. She reminds her daughter of her five failed marriages, and she worries that Max will make it six.

After being convinced to think about it, Maria reluctantly stops seeing Max. Distraught over losing Ariel, John goes to the lake seeking his father's advice, but he finds that J.W. has died in his favorite spot, with a fishing pole in one hand and a can of beer in the other. Following the funeral and the spreading of J.W.'s ashes in the lake, John and Max call off their feud again.

After realizing that their inability to properly plan a wedding is what drove their kids to call it off, they decide to set it right. They help Jacob and Melanie reconcile, explaining their drama. John decides to reconcile with Ariel and convinces Max to talk with Maria. He does and convinces her to take a chance on him, while convincing her mother that he is not going to be like her previous sons-in-law. John and Max manage to catch "Catfish Hunter", but they reluctantly decide to release it so that it can symbolically remain with J.W. in the lake.

After they let the fish go, they realize that they are late for the wedding happening in town, and they rush to the church as quickly as they can. The wedding is revealed to be for Max and Maria, who have reconciled (Jacob and Melanie have eloped). On the way to their honeymoon, they discover Max's one-eyed bulldog Lucky in the car with them, put there earlier by John as a prank. Ragetti's is also reformed so that it will be both a restaurant and a bait shop.

Cast

Production

Meredith's Alzheimer's disease caused him to be coached throughout his performance in the film.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Box office

Grumpier Old Men grossed $71 million at the North American box office, against a production budget of $25 million. [2] [3] The film was released in the United Kingdom on March 1, 1996. [4]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 21%, based on 19 reviews, with a rating average of 4.2/10. [5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on a scale of A+ to F. [7]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a score of 2 stars out of 4. [8]

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described the film as contrived and getting by on the star power of the cast. [9]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "Grumpier Old Men, which was directed by Howard Deutch from a screenplay by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote the first film, doesn't even try to make sense. And for all the vaunted grumpiness, nobody stays mad for long." [10]

Unmade sequel

A sequel titled Grumpiest Old Men was announced as in development, with Howard Deutch and Mark Steven Johnson slated to direct and write the film, respectively. However, the film was ultimately never made. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Lemmon</span> American actor (1925–2001)

John Uhler Lemmon III was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1988, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1991, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996. The Guardian labeled him as "the most successful tragi-comedian of his age."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Matthau</span> American actor (1920–2000)

Walter Matthau was an American screen and stage actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters. He starred in 10 films alongside his real-life friend Jack Lemmon, including The Odd Couple (1968) and Grumpy Old Men (1993). The New York Times called this "one of Hollywood's most successful pairings". Among other accolades, he was an Academy Award, a two-time BAFTA Award, and two-time Tony Award winner.

<i>Missing</i> (1982 film) 1982 historical drama film

Missing is a 1982 American biographical thriller drama film directed by Costa-Gavras from a screenplay written by Gavras and Donald E. Stewart, adapted from the book The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice (1978) by Thomas Hauser, based on the disappearance of American journalist Charles Horman, in the aftermath of the United States-backed Chilean coup of 1973, which deposed the democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende.

<i>Kotch</i> 1971 American film by Jack Lemmon

Kotch is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Jack Lemmon and starring Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman and Ellen Geer.

<i>The Fortune Cookie</i> 1966 film by Billy Wilder

The Fortune Cookie is a 1966 American black comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It is the first film on which Jack Lemmon collaborated with Walter Matthau. Matthau won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

John Andrew Davis is an American film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment.

<i>Grumpy Old Men</i> (film) 1993 US romantic comedy film by Donald Petrie

Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, written by Mark Steven Johnson, and starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Ossie Davis, Buck Henry and Christopher McDonald. It was followed by the sequel Grumpier Old Men.

<i>Out to Sea</i> 1997 American film

Out to Sea is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge and written by Robert Nelson Jacobs. It is the final film role of Donald O'Connor, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Mulhare, and the penultimate film of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a film duo.

<i>The Odd Couple II</i> 1998 film by Howard Deutch

The Odd Couple II is a 1998 American buddy comedy film and the sequel to the 1968 film The Odd Couple. It is the final film written and produced by Neil Simon, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Released nearly three decades later, it is unusual among sequels for having one of the longest gaps between the release of a subsequent film. The Odd Couple II premiered on April 10, 1998, and was a critical and commercial failure, grossing less than half of its predecessor at the box office.

<i>The Bonfire of the Vanities</i> (film) 1990 film by Brian De Palma

The Bonfire of the Vanities is a 1990 American satirical black comedy film directed and produced by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall, and Morgan Freeman. The screenplay, written by Michael Cristofer, was adapted from the bestselling 1987 novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe.

<i>The Odd Couple</i> (film) 1968 film based on the play of the same name directed by Gene Saks

The Odd Couple is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Gene Saks, produced by Howard W. Koch and written by Neil Simon, based on his 1965 play. It stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as two divorced men—neurotic neat-freak Felix Ungar and fun-loving slob Oscar Madison—who decide to live together.

<i>The Front Page</i> (1974 film) 1974 film by Billy Wilder

The Front Page is a 1974 American black comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's 1928 play of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">'S Wonderful</span> Song by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns

"'S Wonderful" is a 1927 popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway musical Funny Face (1927) by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns.

Howard Deutch is an American film and television director who worked with filmmaker John Hughes, directing two of Hughes's best-known screenplays, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful. Since 2011, he has primarily directed television productions, including multiple episodes of Getting On and True Blood.

<i>Buddy Buddy</i> 1981 American comedy film

Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film based on Francis Veber's play Le contrat and Édouard Molinaro's film L'emmerdeur. It is the final film directed and written by Billy Wilder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Remmes</span> American writer and actor

Dan Remmes is an American writer and actor. He is best known as the author of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, based on the 1993 movie Grumpy Old Men.

<i>The Grass Harp</i> (film) 1995 American film

The Grass Harp is a 1995 American comedy drama film based on the novella by Truman Capote. The screenplay, which is the final work of Oscar-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, is adapted from the play. Directed by Charles Matthau, the film features a cast including Piper Laurie, Sissy Spacek, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Edward Furlong and Nell Carter. Piper Laurie won the Best Supporting Actress award from the Southeastern Film Critics Association for her performance.

<i>Catfish</i> (film) 2010 American documentary film

Catfish is a 2010 film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. It involves a young man, Nev, being filmed by his brother and friend, co-directors Ariel and Henry, as he builds a romantic relationship with a young woman on the social networking website Facebook. The film was a critical and commercial success. It led to an MTV reality TV series, Catfish: The TV Show. The film is credited with coining the term catfishing: a type of deceptive activity involving a person creating a fake social networking presence for nefarious purposes.

Grumpy Old Men: The Musical is a stage musical with book by Dan Remmes songs composed by Neil Berg and lyrics by Nick Meglin. The music was orchestrated by Larry Hochman with additional orchestrations by Phil Reno. It is based on the 1993 Warner Bros. film Grumpy Old Men by Mark Steven Johnson which starred Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret. It tells the story of two childhood friends, John Gustafson and Max Goldman, now aging neighbors. An old grudge resurfaces when a mysterious woman moves in across the street.

Jack Lemmon (1925–2001) and Walter Matthau (1920–2000) were a pair of American male actors who starred in ten films together, co-starring in eight of them. In addition, Lemmon directed Kotch (1971), which starred Matthau. Off-screen, they were best friends, though their characters constantly clashed on-screen.

References

  1. ↑ "Grumpier Old Men (1995)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Weekend Box Office: 'Exhale' Blows Down the Competition". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  3. ↑ "Weekend Box Office: Rosy News for Hollywood, 'Monkeys'". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  4. ↑ "UK Weekend Box Office 1st March 1996 - 3rd March 1996". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Grumpier Old Men (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Grumpier Old Men reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  7. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. (Type "Grumpier Old Men" in search)
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (December 22, 1995). "Grumpier Old Men". RogerEbert.com. Chicago Sun Times . Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (December 22, 1995). "MOVIE REVIEW: Stars Add Luster to 'Men's' Contrived Tale". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  10. ↑ Holden, Stephen (December 22, 1995). "FILM REVIEW; 2 Short Fuses Pressing Their Luck". The New York Times . Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  11. ↑ "Touchstone on 'Trial'". Variety. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.