Discordias a la carta

Nothing's different in this lovely follow up to the sleeper hit original. Lemmon and Matthau still jab at each other while Sophia Loren practically steals the film with her still astonishing beauty. Things only get better with age.

A sequel to the thoroughly enjoyable Grumpy Old Men, 'Grumpier Old Men' is A Sweet Film, with Lively Performances. The sequel has the spirit of its prequel & the amazing cast, led by the impeccable talents of the Late/Great Jack Lemmon & the Late/Great Walter Matthau, are in full form!

'Grumpier Old Men' Synopsis: John and Max resolve to save their beloved bait shop from turning into an Italian restaurant, just as its new female owner catches Max's attention.

'Grumpier Old Men' works well as a romantic-comedy, as it has moments of humour & subtle romance. I loved the prequel & I must say, the sequel doesn't fail to deliver. The film has sustained its energy & wit, that one would expect from it.

Mark Steven Johnson's Screenplay is entertaining, although initially the pace is slightly slow. Howard Deutch's Direction is top-class. Tak Fujimoto's Cinematography is good. Editing also is ably done.

Performance-Wise: Lemmon & Matthau shine all through. Its their sheer on-screen chemistry, that alone is worth watching the entire film. Sophia Loren is top-notch. Ann-Margret is impressive. Kevin Pollak & Daryl Hannah leave a mark. Late/Great Burgess Meredith is memorable in his part.

On the whole, 'Grumpier Old Men' is a smooth, relaxing watch.

If you watched Grumpy Old Men and know the ending there, you can't imagine how these two curmudgeonly old geezers could get a feud going again, especially after what Walter Matthau did for Jack Lemmon when Lemmon was really down. And in point of fact the boys seem to lose a step or two from the first film.

Still Grumpier Old Men finds Lemmon and Matthau in their superbly timed best just fighting for sillier reasons. In the first film the rivalry heated up a bit because the two were panting hot and heavy for Ann-Margret and Lemmon got her. Now it's Matthau pursuing and what an object of pursuit he has in Sophia Loren.

In the first film Ossie Davis owned a bait shop where everyone bought bait, but also liked to hang around, just like a barbershop. Davis dies during that film and now we find out that Sophia and her aunt Ann Morgan-Guilbert have taken it over and want to make it an Italian restaurant on the lake. Well when the senior citizens of this small Minnesota town hear about this they're up in arms. Fishing is close to a religion there and Matthau is leading the charge. That interferes more with romance than anything else.

And the Holy Grail of that religion is none other than the largest catfish known to humankind, the legendary Catfish Hunter. Returning as Lemmon's father is Burgess Meredith who has been on the quest for most of his 95 years. When Lemmon's daughter Darryl Hannah finally ties the knot with Matthau's son you won't believe what's going on with our two leads on the wedding day of their kids.

Grumpier Old Men was the farewell performance of Burgess Meredith ending a career that spanned six decades. The man was close to perfection in his performance as the oldest of the old geezers in Grumpier Old Men. This is man who has lived so long he really doesn't feel the need to be subtle and discreet. His courtship of Ann Morgan- Guilbert is a combination of geezer and caveman.

Grumpier Old Men, keeping the Lemmon-Matthau standard of comedy high.

"Grumpier Old Men" is the equally funny sequel to "Grumpy Old Men". Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau return as John and Max, the longtime neighbors who in this movie have reconciled their friendship. Ann-Margret is back as Ariel, John's new wife. So is Burgess Meredith as Lemmon's horny dad, and also returning are Daryl Hannah and Kevin Pollak as Lemmon's daughter and Matthau's son who are now engaged to each other and their fathers help them out to plan their wedding with some bizarre ideas. But the real scene stealer in "Grumpier Old Men" is the wonderful Sophia Loren as the new Italian woman in Wabasha, Minnesota. Loren plans to turn the grumpy old men's beloved bait shop into a 'ristorante' as she puts it. The grumps don't like that one bit and try to drive her out of town, but ends up falling for Matthau. It's great to see Loren get an opportunity to do comedy, and she gets her share of big laughs throughout the film. This film and it's predecessor once again will remind you of what a great team Lemmon and Matthau made.

***1/2 (out of four)

After the success of "Grumpy Old Men" a sequel was inevitable. The fact that it's also inferior to the hilarious first movie was also inevitable.

Plot In A Paragraph: John and Max are still on good terms following the events at the end of last movie. They still greet each other in the same way, but now with affection. They join forces to save their beloveds bait shop from being turned into an Italian restaurant by its new owner (Sophia Loren) who has just took over.

Almost all of the cast from the first movie return, Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are their usual brilliant self, with their usual awesome charisma. Ann Margaret isn't given much to do this time around. Sophia Loren is certainly still a sex bomb. Burgess Meredith is back, and is as smutty if not smithies than the first time around. Daryl Hannah and Kevin Pollack both return too, and are both as reliable as you'd expect.

Sadly, Grumpier Old Men was Burgess Meredith's final film. He looks in bad shape here, but still puts in a good fun, full of life performance.