Adapted by John Paxton from Katharine Topkins's 1965 novel of the same title, the film tells the story of an elderly man who leaves his family rather than go to a nursing home, and strikes up a friendship with a pregnant teenage girl. It is Lemmon's only film behind the camera, and partnered him with friend and frequent co-star, Matthau.
On a patio in Los Angeles, young mother Wilma Kotcher is hiring Erica "Ricky" Herzenstiel to babysit for her infant son, Duncan "Dunc" Kotcher, when Joseph "Kotch" Kotcher, Wilma's father-in-law and resident of the Kotcher household, interrupts to tell an incoherent story about an unrelated Herzenstiel. Erica Herzenstiel is hired and she, Duncan, and Kotch travel to the park. Erica is picked up by her boyfriend and, taking Duncan despite Kotch's protests, leaves Kotch alone. Kotch sees a young girl struggling in the park's pool, lifts her from the water, towels her off, and sends her on her way by slapping her butt. The girl's mother, Mrs. Fischer, sees this and is offended. She and Mrs. Roberts, a representative of the parks department, visit Kotch at home to discuss the issue. Kotch explains that he intended the "pat on the ass" as only an act of camaraderie vis-à-vis baseball, referencing John McGraw and Casey Stengel. The two women are not impressed by this explanation; neither is Gerald Kotcher, Wilma's husband and Kotch's son, who is also present.
As Gerald and Wilma get ready to go out, Kotch complains to Gerald about Wilma taking tranquilizers. While they are out, Kotch checks on a sleeping Duncan and discovers Erica having sex with her boyfriend on the couch. Kotch quietly steps away, saying nothing, but brings up the subject with Gerald the following morning. Kotch points out that he is frustrated that Gerald and Wilma do not trust him with Duncan, but asks that Gerald not hold the revelation against Erica, saying only, "quis custodiet ipsos custodes", by which he means, "who shall keep the keepers themselves".
After Kotch inadvertently sprays Wilma with a garden hose, Wilma immediately takes tranquilizers. That evening, she encourages Gerald to remove Kotch from the Kotcher household. One week later, Gerald takes Kotch to visit the upscale retirement community Sunnydale. Kotch considers a three-month contract, but is put off after sitting a battery of inane psychological tests.
Kotch goes to the local high school in search of Erica and discovers her crying because her pregnancy has been exposed by an untrustworthy confidant. As Kotch helps her to empty her locker, she explains that her brother Peter has convinced her to drop out of school and take a job as a hair stylist in San Bernardino. Kotch offers her some payment because he feels somewhat responsible for her predicament, but she turns him down. After he reveals it is only forty dollars, she reconsiders but still promises to pay it back.
In a montage, Kotch travels around the country in Greyhound buses, living in motels and sending postcards to Duncan. He returns to the Kotcher household unannounced, finding Gerald and Wilma hosting a Halloween party. Kotch talks to a costumed Gerald, who remains masked as he gives Kotch an accidentally opened letter. In the letter, Erica apologizes that "due to serious difficulties", she cannot repay her debt. Kotch poses as a private investigator and discovers that Erica was dismissed from her job as a stylist because she was discovered to be unlicensed, and has left to find a clerking job in Palm Springs. Kotch finds Erica and takes her on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. While they ride, he offers for her to move into the small house that he is renting in Palm Springs as his housekeeper, but she turns him down. After Kotch spends the fall alone in Palm Springs, Erica arrives on Christmas Eve with her belongings, intent on taking Kotch's offer.
Erica decorates bowling pins and knits sweaters, Kotch buys an old car "because it has a clutch". One day, Erica leaves a note, "Gone to Dessert [sic] Valley Hospital". Kotch scratches out the misplaced "s", buys flowers, and drives to the hospital, where he discovers that Erica has not been admitted but is rather attending a lesson about how to deliver a baby. After they return home, Erica tells Kotch that she is having her child adopted, but Kotch suspects that she will change her mind.
Kotch buys a crib and fails to assemble it out of confusion. He catches the measles and worries that they may be of psychogenic origin. While he convalesces, he hires Pablo, a practical nurse, and finds a wealthy family to take in Erica. Just as Kotch recovers, he is visited by Erica's brother, who has shortened his last name to "Stiel". Stiel, as Erica's guardian, has adoption papers for Erica that he leaves with Kotch. Kotch takes the papers to Erica, who is staying in the wealthy family's remote cabin. That night, Erica, having contractions, awakens Koch in urgent need of transportation to a hospital. Kotch drives quickly but is forced to deliver the baby himself at a gas station. As they proceed to a hospital, Erica exclaims, "Stupidest thing I've done in my whole life: having a baby at a filling station!".
Erica stays with Kotch while her child, Chris, sleeps in the now-assembled crib. Kotch awakes to a note: Erica has decided to keep Chris and is flying home to Los Angeles. After hearing about Erica's return, Gerald and Wilma infer Kotch's location and visit Kotch to offer him his place in their household. Kotch turns them down, explaining that he has plans to buy the Palm Springs house and to take a job at a local hardware store. Later, while tidying up, Kotch discovers a crumpled note to a future Chris in the trash. It says that "conditions being more favorable", Kotch would have made "one hell of a grandfather". Pablo, honking his idling truck outside, invites Kotch to "go raise hell", and the two ride off.
The film earned rentals of $3.6 million in North America, and $1.4 million in other countries. It recorded an overall profit of $330,000.[1]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 75%, based on 6 positive and 2 negative reviews.[2]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of four. He wrote, "There aren't many comic actors I admire more than Matthau, and he does his best to be an old man in Kotch, but the illusion simply isn't there."[3]
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References
1 2 3 "ABC's 5 Years of Film Production Profits & Losses", Variety, 31 May 1973, pg 3.
↑ "Kotch". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
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