Word: sidelong
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Grumpy Old Men avoids both queasiness and boredom by throwing only sharp, sidelong glances at old-age issues like straitened circumstances and the death of friends. And the fact that Matthau and Lemmon are playing men of their own ages (73 and 68), which Harris and Duvall (61 and 63) are not, adds authenticity and an element of gallantry to the movie. It also suggests a solution to the problem of old age: if you're healthy, keep working...
Meanwhile, Culkin himself acts precociously. He realizes that casual deadpan in a ten-year-old looks far more sinister than sidelong glances and wicked cackles, and so plays it straight. Culkin's calm in turn forms the perfect foil to the frenzied indignation of Wood, his fearless adversary. Splattered with tomato juice, frenetically pumping squash down the disposal, Wood manages to look far more twisted and dangerous than Culkin ever does. The dynamic of this role-reversal, excellently acted by both Wood and Culkin, generates all the tension in the film. The pair carries the production; all other players...
...many first-years at Harvard, the proctor isa fairly minor player in everyday life. Mine,though, was a central figure--he became thesecurity blanket and quasi-parental figure that,as much as I hate to admit it, I still reallyneed. Lee new about every sidelong glance I gotfrom a guy I liked, got the play-by-play on everyminor roommate tiff, and listened to all mybitching about my parents. He was the first personto know when I found out I was going to appear on"Jeopardy!" in the spring, and when the show airedin...