ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 23, 1995 TAG: 9512270061
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
Half the fun in the 1993 sleeper hit "Grumpy Old Men" came in watching Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau work together with good roles.
It's all the fun in "Grumpier Old Men," a loosely stitched sequel. The virtually plotless story is simply an excuse to bring the crusty Minnesotans John (Lemmon) and Max (Matthau) back with Ariel (Ann-Margret) and the inspired addition of Maria (Sophia Loren).
She's the owner of a new restaurant that the guys want to close because it's new and they don't like change. That silly conflict is quickly disposed of, and the rest of the film follows various boy-meets-girl-boy-loses-girl relationships. Those involve Max and Maria, Jacob (Kevin Pollack) and Melanie (Daryl Hannah) from the first film, and even Grandpa (Burgess Meredith) and Maria's mom (Ann Guilbert).
Mark Steven Johnson, who also wrote the first film, gives his characters lots of nice one-liners and good-hearted insult humor. The bawdiness that drove the original is equally strong here, too. Director Howard Deutch made his contribution unobtrusive. With a veteran cast playing established characters, he simply set the camera down and let the stars do their stuff. Respected director of photography Tak Fujimoto (``Silence of the Lambs," ``Philadelphia") recaptures the sense of place that was so important to first film.
So, for a sequel, "Grumpier Old Men" does exactly what it's supposed to do, with no surprises.
Grumpier Old Men ** 1/2
A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View 6. 97 min. Rated PG-13 for salty language, sexual situations.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB