Grumpy Old Men
A lifelong feud between two neighbors since childhood, only gets worse when a new female neighbor moves across the street.
- Director:Donald Petrie
- Genre:Comedy / Drama
- Runtime:104 minutes
Cast
Jack Lemmon : John Gustafson
Walter Matthau : Max Goldman
Ann-Margret : Ariel Truax
Burgess Meredith : Grandpa Gustafson
Daryl Hannah : Melanie
Two elderly Wabasha, Minnesota bachelors, divorcee John Gustafson (Lemmon) and widower Max Goldman (Matthau), have been friends and lived next door to each other for years, but they have not gotten along since childhood. They are rivals over everything, especially fishing. Max always catches a lot while John comes home with two or three, although he claims he’s thrown back what he can’t eat. They play pranks on each other, such as changing John’s television through his window, or throwing a dead fish in Max’s truck. Their conversations degrade into bickering.
The rivalry started over John’s stealing Max’s childhood sweetheart, May, to whom John was unhappily married for 20 years. Another subplot revolves around John’s owing thousands to the IRS and his attempts to avoid a field agent named Elliot Snyder (Henry) who wants to recover the money. Those attempts always involve John’s sneaking out of a window and climbing down to the ground. The rivalry gets more heated when a new neighbor, Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret), moves across from their homes, Max and John competing for her affection. Ariel spends more time with John. The feud comes to a head when Max drives his truck into John’s ice shanty while he is fishing inside and pushes it across the lake into thin ice, causing it to sink, John escaping seconds before it breaks through the surface. The two fight over John’s relationship with Ariel, Max accusing John of stealing her. Max tells John he can’t support Ariel and that he “ain’t got time” to wait for another Amy to come into his life. John lets Ariel go, becoming depressed. The depression is worsened when Ariel and Max begin dating.
Christmas Eve comes and John is ready to welcome his daughter Melanie and her daughter, only to find that Melanie’s husband Mike, from whom she had separated and whom John is not fond of, has joined them. After a fight with Mike over his drinking, John heads to a local bar. Max goes to the bar to calm John, but is unaware of why John is so upset. Max’s ignorance causes John to leave in a huff, telling Max it doesn’t make a difference because he got what he wanted. Max goes after John and finds him in a snowbank, having had a heart attack while walking.
Max visits John in hospital the next day and puts their feud on hold. He decides John and Ariel are better off together and tells her what happened. Ariel visits John and the two fall in love again. Read more
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