This movie was the first movie I had seem with the two lead actors with each other on the same screen. After watching these dynamic duo I was surely surprised at what they delivered. I plan on watching all their other movies in the near future. At first I thought it was a bit cheesy in the beginning, but as it progressed you can really see the connection the two actors have. They just play off each other perfectly and I love how they kept coming across each other in the movie and they greet each other with the same nicknames. The progression of the story was set at a perfect pace allowing me to laugh at their attempts to make each others lives miserable as well as when things begin to turn in the middle of the film. The writing was elegantly done with plenty of laughs to be had. I will surely be watching more in the future and I hope you do too.

I watched this film on CMT (?) on Martin Luther King Day (2014); seems kind of cynical.No, rednecks are not necessarily racist and the good people of Wabasha, MN are certainly not.......how would I know, I've been to every state but not to Wabesha, MN? I'm from Wiscosnin, where sophisticated people like Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien and 'Manny Moore' grew up. I've been to Mayer, outside of Minneapolis, and that's my name. I think I'll buy the town. Now, to the movie: The sons and daughters appear to be more sophisticated than the fathers, so they must be living in Milwaukee.As I look out my front windows, in northeast Wisconsin, in January (yes, I have more than one window) it looks just like Wabesha, but I would bet the film was produced in the Sierra Nevada's, outside of L.A.People who live on the east or west coasts might feel that this film is hokey and typical of the Great Lakes (or, as they call it 'midwestern venue'), but, according to a 'Wall Street 24/7' survey, the 2nd brightest people live in Wiscosnin (2nd to Vermont) and Minnesota is in the top ten. West and east coast people are the citizens who say '...the trip was SO FUN,' used out of grammatical context.Walter and Jack are great impersonating the Great Lakes persona, but I don't think they would have given a 'rat's ass.' As for Ann...she is just trying to make a living; an aging film star.Cute movie, but is that what it's all about 'Alfie?'

Grumpy Old Men focuses on the town of Wabasha, Minnesota, where two bickering elderly residents reside and consistently bicker with one another. They are retired teacher and widower John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and retired repairman and fellow widower Max Goldman (Walter Matthau), whose friendship as children ended when John dated and married Max's crush in high school.Now, such a rivalry reaches critical mass when an attractive eccentric named Ariel (Ann-Margret) moves across the street and steals the eye of both men. Both John and Max are smitten with the woman and try to find ways to earn her friendship and maybe even her hand. However, both men are far past their prime in terms of relationships, but John and Max can put many fighting youngsters to shame with the way they try and get back at one another.Such a film would not be half as memorable or fun if the leads weren't the legendary screen actors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film pulls of its hardest job effortlessly because of them and that job is making both men truly seem like lifelong rivals who have a subtle but present soft-spot for one another. Lemmon and Matthau manage to achieve a shockingly believable relationship in that regard, and their performances mimic the kind that would've been present in early black and white cinema or even the Vaudeville days.Both of their performances require energy that some would assume would be far past their years. But, as usual, Lemmon and Matthau defy the odds and commit to hilarious performances of sweetness, sourness, and true comedic talent. One mustn't forget the talent possessed by Ann-Margret as well, who handles the female character "stuck in the middle of lunacy" role to strong effect, especially in the more dramatic scenes. Consider when she gets her lengthy monologue with John about how him and Max need to stop fighting each other. It's a scene of surprising emotional honesty thanks to writer Mark Steven Johnson's refusal to make the monologue too sentimental.Johnson, who would later find some success writing and directing films based on lesser-known superheros, keeps the film heavy on humor and relatively minimal on the inclusion of emotionally manipulative sequences in the film. First and foremost, the film remembers it's a comedy and refuses to compromise its title for frequent and contrived dramatic instances. However, when the drama does roll around, it's handled in a pleasantly modest way (especially towards the end, when the film goes for broke in a sequence that shows humanness to the fullest degree).Grumpy Old Men can easily be criticized for having a plot like a sitcom and rather ordinary direction by Donald Petrie, who refuses to do much with the story visually other than capture the snowy landscape of Wabasha, Minnesota. However, like many comedies with high-profile actors, it may be easy to critique the plot's contrivances, but it's hard to fault the actors for being so committed to a project they inherently fit into well. Lemmon and Matthau captures the soulful energy of bickering neighbors wonderfully and that's worth the price of admission alone.Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Kevin Pollak. Directed by: Donald Petrie.

it's hard to believe that 2 giants of the screen are actually dead,, well 3 if you count Burgess Meredith as well,, first off Ann Margaret was great in this movie, and still looks wonderful for her age.. Walter Mathau and Jack Lemmon were first paired on the big screen in the Odd Couple I believe ,, someone correct me if i'm wrong on this but I don't believe that I am on this one.. this movie is set in an around Minnesotta they do a lot of ice fishing up there, and this is what our main characters do in their spare time.. both men are trying to win over their sexy new neighbor .. played by the lovely Ann Margaret, unfortunately she can only choose one of them,, both of these men just love to play pranks one one another, 2 of my fav are the frozen snow on the roof and he sprays it all down with the water hose.. and the other is the stinky rotten dead fish in the car.. gotta love these two along with Burgess Meredith they will all be missed so much.