Post by StevePulaski on Nov 18, 2013 14:00:06 GMT -5
Grumpier Old Men (1995)
Directed by: Howard Deutch
Directed by: Howard Deutch
The grumps are back in town.
Rating: ★★★
It's not uncommon for a movie sequel to do little to the formula that made its predecessor so financially (and hopefully critically) successful. The old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" method of filmmaking has been used in the Hangover, Home Alone, and Taken franchise to only modest success in terms of quality. However, in Grumpier Old Men, the sequel to the fine comedy Grumpy Old Men, handles the rehashed formula better than many film sequels do.
While I'm getting to sound repetitive and out of descriptive words, this is largely because of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's chemistry together on-screen. From the moment they appear, it's almost impossible to believe the men's friendship in real life wasn't lifelong and consisted largely of playful torment, vulgarity, and several boys nights out. Had the film been a sequel with few returning cast members (say Lemmon and Matthau were substituted by two other actors), this sequel would've likely been a somber affair to view.
In a way, I'm thankful the town of Wabasha Minnesota hasn't really changed much since our last outing, with the exception of John Gustafson (Jack Lemon) marrying Ariel (Ann-Margret) from the original film. In the meantime, John's dad still lives off a diet of beer, cigarettes, and bacon and Max Goldman (Walter Matthau), John's cantankerous neighbor, still finds himself engaging in petty neighborhood battles with John about outwitting the other man. However, the big ordeal this time is not competing for a new neighbor's love but trying to save a local bait shop from becoming a "restaurante" for Italian cuisine. The restaurant is managed by Maria Ragetti (Sophia Loren), a gorgeous but uncompromisingly strict woman who catches the eye of Max even as him and Jack plan to foil the restaurant's forthcoming prosperity.
Other events (aka subplots) occurring in Wabasha are the wedding between Max's son Jacob (Kevin Pollak) John's daughter Melanie (Daryl Hannah), a plot which would later be used by the same director Howard Deutch in The Odd Couple II, also starring Lemmon and Matthau, along with John trying to get his father (Burgess Meredith in his final role, which was burdened by spouts with Alzheimer's and difficultly remembering lines, some female company as he gets older. One of Grumpier Old Men's immediate issues is that there is simply too much going on between plot-strands that involve marriage/romance troubles (I counted four including John's brief trouble with Ariel later in the movie) ad others that involve trying to sabotage the bait-shop-turned-restaurant.
Grumpier Old Men may have too many new ideas for cutesy subplots, but it keeps the tone and feel of its predecessor alive and well. It still feels like Wabasha is the location of a sitcom with its oddball situations that seem to consistently bear hefty consequences for its residents, but its characters still feel like real people we've come to known and care about.
Unsurprisingly, Lemmon and Matthau share unbelievable conversational beauty in the way they engage in simple discussions that seem to constantly end in uproariously funny bickering. Once you minimize your focus on that aspect in the film, you have just an average comedy that, while charming and pleasantly safe (a good and bad quality for this particular kind of picture), is just grateful to be buoyed by two very talented leading men.
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Kevin Pollak, Daryl Hannah, Sophia Loren, and Burgess Meredith. Directed by: Howard Deutch.