A Very Good Line-Reading By Walter Matthau Near the End (SPOILER)

I'm happy that Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were "rescued from obscurity" and re-born as a comedy team in old age by "Grumpy Old Men."

Except Walter Matthau looks terrible in the film. He had never been Warren Beatty, but in his heyday(the 60's and 70's as a character actor then an unlikely star), he had been handsome ENOUGH, with a pleasant face that could turn serious and macho and even menacing when necessary.

By 1993, Walter Matthau's face was old and wrinkled an unwell; he could still say things funny and he still had his accent, but...his best days were behind him, looks-wise.

And yet: he could still act. Matthau is quite good in Grumpy Old Men when it comes to delivering lines and maintaining "presence," and his power comes through, very surprisingly, very late in the film.

The scene: old man Jack Lemmon has had a heart attack, out of doors at night in the snow. Matthau has only discovered this because he chose to follow Lemmon out there after an argument to apologize; had Matthau stayed at the bar, Lemmon likely would have died alone.

Lemmon is now hospitalized and Matthau arrives at the help desk and talks to a nurse. He wants to see Lemmon.

The nurse asks: "Family or friend?"

And here Matthau shows what he has got. He allows the camera to linger on his old, collapsed face. His eyes are red-rimmed, slightly teary. And he struggles with the answer as he thinks about this man who has been his sworn next-door neighbor "enemy" for 40 years. He realizes there was always something closer between them.

He struggles the one word out: "Friend."

Listen to how Matthau says that one word. How he struggles with it and chokes up realizing that he means it. What he does with his face. What he does with his mouth.

Sometimes, movie acting looks pretty special, after all.