Grumpier Old Men -

Amusing comedy that surpasses the original, but doesn’t aim for much. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprise their title roles as the argumentative curmudgeons. This time out, Lemmon has married Ann Margaret, and the weather has warmed up, but everything else is pretty much the same…until Sophia Loren shows up to close down the local bait shop and convert it into a Italian restaurant. Naturally Lemmon and Matthau, die hard fishermen that they are, will do anything to drive her out to reopen their beloved bait shop. That is, of course, until Matthau falls prey to her charms. Grumpier Old Men actually learns something from its first outing (a quality which is rare among sequels). It leaves the best elements pretty much as they were (Burgess Meredith as Lemmon’s dirty old father, and of course the clashing of Lemmon and Matthau), and adds what was missing in the original (an antagonist…giving the two something to clash against other than each other). As a result, this sequel actually has more laughs than the original. Now of course this isn’t deep stuff, but if you’re in the mood for some light slapstick and insult humor, this movie should be right up your alley.