Grumpier Old Men: Difference between revisions

'''''Grumpier Old Men''''' is a 1995 American [[romantic comedy]] film, and a [[sequel]] to the 1993 film ''[[Grumpy Old Men (film)|Grumpy Old Men]]'', directed by [[Howard Deutch]], withand thea screenplay written by [[Mark Steven Johnson]]. and theThe original music score is composed by [[Alan Silvestri]]. [[Jack Lemmon]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Ann-Margret]], [[Burgess Meredith]], [[Daryl Hannah]], [[Kevin Pollak]], and [[Katie Sagona]] reprisedreprise their roles from the previous film. ThisIt wasis Meredith's final film before his death in 1997.

The feud between Max and John has cooled and they have become good friends. Their children, Melanie and Jacob, have become engaged. Meanwhile, John is enjoying his marriage to new wife Ariel. John and Max still call each other "moron" and "putz", respectively, but with friendly intentions.

The spring and summer fishing season is in full swing with the annual quest to catch "Catfish Hunter,", an unusually large [[catfish]] that seems to enjoy eluding anyone who tries to catch it. However, the local bait shop closed after Chuck, the previous owner, died in the first movie. Maria Ragetti has purchased the property with the intent of converting it into a fancy Italian restaurant.

Irritated that it will no longer be a bait shop, Max and John join forces to sabotage the restaurant. They are successful at first with their [[practical jokes]]. However, when Ariel learns what is going on, she tells John to apologize to Maria at once, and he does after Ariel kicks him out of the house. Max and Maria begin dating after discovering a shared passion for fishing, while her mother Francesca dates John's father, J.W.

To further complicate things further, Jacob and Melanie call off their engagement due to stress from their parents' involvement. UponOn hearing the news, John and Max reignite their feud and go backreturn to their childish pranks again, such as John cutting a hole in Max's fishing net and detaching the anchor to his boat. Max retaliates by disconnecting John's motor from his boat and broadcasting him nude (while Ariel was making a clay statuesculpture of him) at a Sears department store. Ariel is stressed out because of it and leaves John until things settle down. At the restaurant, Francesca is worried about all the amount of time that Maria spends with Max. She reminds her daughter of her five failed marriages, and she worries that Max will make it six.

After being convinced to takethink aabout long look at herselfit, Maria reluctantly stops seeing Max. Distraught over losing Ariel, John headsgoes to the lake forseeking his father's advice, but he finds that heJ.W. has died in his favorite spot, with a fishing pole in one hand and a can of beer in the other. Following the funeral and the spreading of J.W.'s ashes in the lake, John and Max call off their feud again.

After realizing that their inability to properly plan a wedding is what drove their kids to call it off, they decide to set it right. They help Jacob and Melanie reconcile, explaining their drama. John decides to reconcile with Ariel and convinces Max to talk towith Maria. He does and convinces her to take a chance on him, while convincing her mother that he's is not going to be like her previous sons-in-law. John and Max manage to catch "Catfish Hunter", but they reluctantly decide to release it so that it can besymbolically remain with J.W. in the lake.

After they let itthe fish go, they realize that they're are late for athe wedding happening in town, and they rush to the church as quickly as they can. The wedding is revealed to be for Max and Maria, who have reconciled (Jacob and Melanie have eloped). On the way to their honeymoon, they discover Max's one-eyed bulldog, Lucky, in the car with them, being put there earlier by John earlier as a prank. Ragetti's is also reformed so that it will be both a restaurant and a bait shop.

* [[Ann-Margret]] as Ariel Truax Gustafson, John's 2ndsecond wife

* [[Sophia Loren]] as Maria Sophia Coletta Ragetti Goldman, Max's 2ndsecond wife

* [[Daryl Hannah]] as Melanie Gustafson, John's daughter and Jacob's wife

* [[Max Wright]] as the County Health Inspector

Meredith's [[Alzheimer's disease]] worsenedcaused and he hadhim to be coached throughthroughout his roleperformance in the film.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

On review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 21%, based on 19 reviews, with a rating average of 4.2/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grumpier_old_men/|title=Grumpier Old Men (1995)|publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=January 16, 2023}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a score of 46 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews".<ref>{{cite web |title=Grumpier Old Men reviews|url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/grumpier-old-men | publisher=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=July 22, 2017}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A−A–" on ana scale of A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web |title=CinemaScore |url=https://m.cinemascore.com |work=cinemascore.com}} (Type "Grumpier Old Men" in search)</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave the film a score of 2 out of 4 stars.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ebert |first=Roger |date=December 22, 1995 |title=Grumpier Old Men |work=RogerEbert.com |publisher=[[Chicago Sun Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/grumpier-old-men-1995 |access-date=2012-06-01}}</ref> Kevin Thomas of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' described the film as contrived and getting by on the star power of the cast.<ref>{{cite news |author=Thomas |first=Kevin |date=December 22, 1995 |title=MOVIE REVIEW: Stars Add Luster to 'Men's' Contrived Tale |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-22-ca-16733-story.html |access-date=2012-06-01}}</ref> [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote:, "''Grumpier Old Men'', which was directed by Howard Deutch from a screenplay by Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote the first film, doesn't even try to make sense. And for all the vaunted grumpiness, nobody stays mad for long."<ref>{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=December 22, 1995 |title=FILM REVIEW; 2 Short Fuses Pressing Their Luck |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F02E3DF1539F931A15751C1A963958260 |access-date=2012-06-01}}</ref>

A sequel titled ''Grumpiest Old Men'' was announced as being in development, with [[Howard Deutch]] and [[Mark Steven Johnson]] slated to direct and write the film, respectively,. howeverHowever, the film ultimately was ultimately never made.<ref name="GrumpiestOldMen">{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/touchstone-on-trial-1117342990/|title= Touchstone on 'Trial' |publisher=Variety|access-date=November 19, 2023}}</ref>