No better way to welcome back TMN than with "Grumpy Old Men"! I love this movie, but had forgotten how much I loved it until watching it again. Made in 1993, it stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as two elderly men who grew up together in this small Minnesota town. They raised their families next-door to each other and spent most of their adult lives at each others throats. For fifty years, they have insulted each other at every turn. Now, a new neighbor, played by Ann Margaret, moves in across the street and they begin competing for her affections.
Jack Lemmon plays John Gustafson, Walter Matthau plays Max Goldman, and Ann Margaret plays Ariel Truax. Ariel moves in and sets the small town upside down. She snowmobiles at midnight, runs into the snow and flops around in broad daylight, and generally is everything that John and Max haven't seen in a long time. They both set their sights on her and their ugly relationship gets even worse.
It's a great movie because of the dialogue between Lemmon and Matthau. Lines like:
"Do me a favor. Put your lip over your head... and swallow."
"Mind your own business, will ya? Mind your own business. Why don't you tie your shoelace, you'll fall on your stupid head."
This was the 6th of a total of 10 times that the two would do a movie together. They were really great friends, but after shooting this movie in Minnesota, Matthau ended up with double pneumonia and spent a while in the hospital. They did a follow-up to this movie with a sequel in 1995.
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