The Gin Game

Seeing Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore reunited in a retirement home (or seeing Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy onstage in the original Broadway production), no doubt the audience thought they were going to see a charming "old folks still got it" romance. I certainly thought so, but it isn't like that at all! It's a heavy drama, showing that old folks still have tempers and emotional issues carried through the decades of their lives. Why watch something like that, especially since it usually stars a couple you'd like to see having a sweet relationship together?

Mary starts the movie new to the retirement home, and she's lonely. With no visits from the outside and no friends on the inside, she's drawn in by the outgoing personality of Dick when he invites her to play a game of gin rummy. They start to play and get to know each other, but the new acquaintanceship seems to push each other's buttons almost immediately. Mary rolls her eyes when Dick focuses on counting cards rather than answering her question, and Dick is a sore loser when Mary has a lucky streak.

My problem with this movie is the same problem I had with Wrestling Ernest Hemingway. There were so many plot twists the story could have taken (one option would be Mary and Dick are ex-spouses who try to start over, another surprise could be that Dick is Mary's imaginary friend, and a third is that a brain tumor is causing Dick's temper), but playwright D. L. Coburn wrote a very straight-forward story. There are no surprises, only two incompatible people who shouldn't really try to be friends with each other. Is the point of the story that most residents in retirement homes are so far gone they're not able to develop friendships, so Mary should just be grateful for a cohesive conversation with Dick?

The message I was able to garner is that old folks, although not exploring romantic options in this play, do "still got it" in other ways. They still have old hurts, issues that trigger arguments, and tempers that scare people. They also still have the acting chops to take on meaty roles. There's no reason for actors and actresses with white hair to be relegated to "kooky granny" parts. They can, and should, still headline movies for as long as they want to. Old people are just young people with wrinkles, and the sooner young people understand that the better.

It takes a bit to get used to VanDyke and Moore as the antithesis of Rob and Laura but the quicker you do it the sooner you can enjoy this well-produced version of D.L. Coburn's play. The rapport between these two is still present and just as sharp as it was 40 years ago. The text (written in 1978) holds up well. Direction and camera work are also fine. A film well worth seeing/owning.

Casting for this revival of the bittersweet play was perfect. I have enjoyed the work of these two wonderful actors throughout their careers. This play is a perfect vehicle for a reunion of Rob and Laura Petrie. At my age, the play is almost too close for comfort - I see Weller in me, but I don't plan to go down the same path...

I highly recommend this production to anyone wishing to encounter a slice of reality portrayed by two gifted actors.

Really more a filmed theatrical staging for PBS, than a true film per se, this two- hander is solidly acted by Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore.

They play two very different types in an old age home: the extroverted, gregarious, but also somewhat volatile and misanthropic Weller and the introverted, prim Fonisa form a friendship over games of gin, which she has an uncanny knack for winning, even though she is a complete novice to the game.

In this production at least, the play feels sweet, funny, well written and occasionally touching, but also a bit familiar. And the characters' secrets aren't very surprising given the build up to their reveals.

But that said it can often invoke a smile, and the ending was surprisingly touching without resorting to the obvious or unsubtle.

While I didn't see the original production starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, and directed by Mike Nichols, certainly the reviews I could find make it sound like a darker, more disturbing approach to the play and the characters, which I could imagine giving the whole thing more heft and power. While this never turned 'cute' it threatened to at moments.

But in the end, it was still fun to see these two excellent old pros go at it, and I was never bored or less than interested.

Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke were absolutely marvelous in this performance. The chemistry between them is remarkable. They play off of each other as if they had done it every day since the Dick Van Dyke show. A definite must see for fans of either.