Taglines: A fifty-year fight.
Grumpy Old Men movie storyline. Retirees John Gustafson (Lemmon), a former high school history teacher, and Max Goldman (Matthau), who was a TV repairman, are childhood friends, longtime rivals and next-door neighbors in Wabasha, Minnesota. Both of them are widowers. Their rivalry began decades earlier when John married Max’s high school sweetheart, May. John and May were happily married for 20 years until her death, and had a daughter, Melanie (Daryl Hannah), who is having marital problems, and a son, Brian, who died in Vietnam.
Max went on to marry Amy and had a son, Jacob (Kevin Pollak). Max never regretted marrying Amy, and thought their marriage was the best thing that ever happened to him. Despite their differences, both men lead boring and lonely single lives, and share a love for ice fishing, as well as competing, arguing, insulting, and pulling cruel practical jokes on each other. However, John has a problem that Max doesn’t: he owes tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, and is going to great lengths to avoid agent Elliot Snyder (Buck Henry).
When beautiful college professor Ariel Truax (Ann-Margret) moves in across the street, Max and John’s rivalry is renewed as they compete for her attention. Early on, Ariel spends time with Max, which secretly upsets John. While fighting with Max, John inadvertently opens the door to find Agent Snyder and is forced to meet with him. Things do not end all badly for John, however: Ariel decides to cook him dinner and they spend the evening together.
As Ariel spends more and more time with John, Max becomes angry, eventually ramming his truck into John’s fishing shanty to push it into the lake. John and Max quarrel, with Max accusing John of stealing Ariel away like he did May. John points out May’s sexual prowess, arguing that he saved Max from an unhappy marriage and that Max was better off with Amy because she was a loving and loyal wife. Although Max agrees, he notes that John will have no way to support Ariel when the IRS takes his house. Max’s attempt at shame works, and John breaks up with Ariel despite having fallen in love with her. Ariel is offended and soon takes up with Max, while John sinks into a deep depression.
Grumpy Old Men is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Ossie Davis and Buck Henry. Directed by Donald Petrie, the screenplay was written by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote the sequel, Grumpier Old Men (1995). The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri. This was the sixth film starring both Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and their first on-screen pairing since 1981’s Buddy Buddy.
Grumpy Old Men (1993)
Directed by: Donald Petrie
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Kevin Pollack, Ossie Davis, Daryl Hannah, Christopher McDonald, Isabell O’Connor, John Carroll Lynch, Charles Brin
Screenplay by: Mark Steven Johnson
Production Design by: David Chapman
Cinematography by: Johnny E. Jensen
Film Editing by: Bonnie Koehler
Costume Design by: Lisa Jensen
Set Decoration by: Clay A. Griffith
Art Direction by: Mark Haack
Music by: Alan Silvestri
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexual references.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: December 25, 1993
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