Synopsis
For decades, next-door neighbors and former friends John and Max have feuded, trading insults and wicked pranks. When an attractive widow moves in nearby, their bad blood erupts into a high-stakes rivalry full of naughty jokes and adolescent hijinks.
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Cast
- Jack LemmonJohn Gustafson
- Walter MatthauMax Goldman
- Ann-MargretAriel Truax
- Burgess MeredithGrandpa Gustafson
- Daryl HannahMelanie
- Kevin PollakJacob Goldman
- Ossie DavisChuck
- Buck HenrySnyder
- Christopher McDonaldMike
- John Carroll LynchMoving Man
Recommendations
- 80
The New York Times
Grumpy Old Men is the kind of holiday movie a lot of people are searching for. It's cheerful, it's well under two hours and it doesn't concern any major social blights, unless you think Jack Lemmon tossing a dead fish into Walter Matthau's car is cause for alarm. - 75
ReelViews
Grumpy Old Men works more often than not. It's an example of a frothy, good-natured holiday picture that adults can relax and enjoy. As a comedy, the movie contains enough fresh humor to keep the laughs coming. - 70
Washington Post
In today's mouse-toting, instant-gratification world, this kind of old-fashioned, character-driven slapstick is wonderfully incompatible. It's a grumpy last hurrah. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
Relaxed, valedictory, exquisitely titled, Grumpy Old Men feels like an odd couple's last hurrah. - 63
TV Guide Magazine
All things considered, Grumpy Old Men might have fared better re-worked as a domestic drama that took full advantage of its talented cast, with the lame funnybone attempts left, like the ubiquitous dead fish, buried in the backseat. - 63
Chicago Tribune
Two old people doing old people things, talking about old people stuff, and eating old people food. Sound interesting? Grumpy Old Men is a film that manages to be one of the scariest things I have ever seen. [28 Jan 1994, p.L] - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie is too pat and practiced to really be convincing, and the progress of Ariel's relationships with the two grumps seems dictated mostly by the needs of the screenplay. But Matthau and Lemmon are fun to see together, if for no other reason than just for the essence of their beings. - 50
Boston Globe
The trouble with Grumpy Old Men is the patronizing attitude -- ageism, really -- that takes a too-broad approach to their geriatric world and renders it plastic. It is too cute and sanitized to allow its performers much in the way of opportunity.
