Takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’
If you have never had the pleasure of viewing Grumpy Old Men then it’s going to be a treat for you. It’s simply about two old men who are grumpy, senile and ready to tell the world to ‘(bleep) off’ if need be. Aside from that, they love and hate each other. John Gustafason (Jack Lemmon) and Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) are neighbors who have differing opinions about life. John is a conservative, typical old man who loves the world, but has sort of lost his way. Max is a bitter man who hates everyone, well pseudo hates everyone, and refuses to change his old ways. When a young chick (someone in her 50s-60s) moves in named Ariel Truax (Anne-Margret), the boys get slightly competitive. Trying to cort Ariel, each does something more sinister to the other to ultimately make them look bad. Going on the stance that they aren’t getting any younger, they fight and fight.
You would be kidding yourself if you didn’t think that Lemmon and Matthau wanted this movie as a last ‘goodbye’ to Hollywood. The pair teamed up for so many years on The Odd Couple that their onscreen chemistry seemed to be on target from start to finish. They knew this film depended on their comedy and they certainly brought their best. Each is convincing as grumpy old men because, well to be frank, they were grumpy old men. They brought a very believable sense to the roles, as they naturally bickered back and forth with each other during the movie. I guess that’s always been their game, play off the other person. Ultimately, it works really well. If you need an example, every time that John enters the scene, he greets Max with some quip and Max returns the favor with ‘Putz’. Again, excellent chemistry between the two main actors.
As for the actual story, it’s okay. A love triangle always equals disaster and someone always gets hurt, so you know what’s going to happen before it happens. The majority of humor from the movie comes from this main storyline, which works to facilitate the laughs really well. Two other side notes loom in the film, as John is in debt to the IRS and they’re going to seize his house if he doesn’t pay the back taxes (before the IRS got kind). And the more serious, shallow sub plot of both men coming to realize their age is small in comparison to everything else, but well done as not to put a damper on the story. There’s nothing less amusing then old people realizing their old. This combination of stories equals out to be a well made piece of cinema. It’s certainly not going to win any academy awards, but what comedy does these days?
Finally, there are a few down points to the movie. The sputtering love story between Pollak and Hannah is weak. Donald Petrie tried to incorporate this weak story into the other three, but it sputters. You don’t feel anything for Hannah or Pollak and the plot point where they’re suppose to do what the other folks didn’t do in their lives is a bit laughable. I wish it hadn’t been a part of the movie at all.
On a side note, Burgess Meredith is the funniest old man ever. Wait for the credits, you’ll love him even more.
Story/movie aside, the Blu-ray is decent. Much like a warm cup of coffee that isn’t too hot and not too cold, the movie is warm in terms of HD. It looks a bit DVD-ish, while once in a while showing signs of really gorgeous high definition. I think the biggest issue that it might have is that the film virtually has no sunlight at all. You have a very snowy and dreary locale that didn’t help the Blu-ray out by any means. You can get away with watching this on a 720p because 1080p might actually hurt it a bit. There is some graininess in the video and at times it looks as sharp as a nail. It mainly depends on the lighting. This is the first Blu-ray where it was more than likely the film’s fault and not the transfer. Anyway, you get some good audio, not 5.1, but good 2.0. For the older people out there that will be enough, but 5.1 is always better.
As for features, a trailer. So, nada really.