Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
Movies The 32 greatest movies under 90 minutes
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
Movies The 32 greatest movies about dads ever made
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
Movies The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
The Naked Gun popcorn bucket
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun's wild popcorn bucket is an ingenious throwback gag to one of the original movie's raciest jokes
Chris Pine and Denzel Washington in Unstoppable
Movies The 32 greatest train movies of all time
The Naked Gun
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun sequel called "deliciously stupid" and "an actual comedy movie" in first reactions: "If there was any justice in the world, Liam Neeson would get an Oscar"
The 30 best horror movies of all time: pictures from The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Hereditary.
Horror Movies The 30 best horror movies that will haunt you long after the credits roll
Drama Movies The 10 best drama movies of all time, ranked
The hammer scene from Oldboy
Movies The 32 greatest revenge thrillers ever made
Dogtooth
Drama Movies The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
RRR movie
Movies The 25 best movies on Netflix to watch this week
The band reunite in the first trailer for This Is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
Comedy Movies 41 years on from the original, the first trailer for comedy sequel Spinal Tap 2 promises cheese, crypto, and a Paul McCartney cameo
Pixar's Ratatouille
Movies The 32 greatest movies about food that will make you hungry
Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Fantasy Movies People are reappraising just how weird Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is "Like a Muppet movie if Charlie and his mom are the only humans"
Great Gerwig's Booksmart
Movies The 32 greatest high school movies
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

15 Great Grumpy Old Movie Men

Features
By James White published 7 October 2009

Classic codgers tell us to get off their cine-lawn…

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Grandpa Edwin Hoover

Grandpa Edwin Hoover

Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Codger Cred:
Grouse-happy, s**t-stirring malcontent Edwin lives to complain, moan and insult most of his family, though he loves his grandkids (even if he doesn’t understand the sulky side of Paul Dano’s Dwayne).

He’s unrepentantly sweary too, which we love.

Grouchy Gust:
“You're not gonna shut me up! F**k you I can say what I want!"

Cheer Up! Grandpa has a heart of gold beating under that spiky exterior, and truly bonds with granddaughter Olive (Abigail Breslin) as she struggles to enter a beauty contest.

Page 1 of 15
Page 1 of 15
Mickey Goldmill

Mickey Goldmill

Burgess Meredith, Rocky (1976)/Rocky II (1979)/Rocky III

Codger Cred:
The cantankerous, crusty old trainer who took on Sylvester Stallone’s punch-drunk fighter gave as good as he got, even when it came time to make a man who could clearly pummel him into pulp chase a chicken around.

Grouchy Gust:
“You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!”

Cheer Up!
For all of his grimacing, Mickey truly believed in and loved Rock. Plus, though he didn’t exactly change much, he managed to make it through to Rocky IV and V even though he’d died.

Flashbacks are a wonderful thing.

Page 2 of 15
Page 2 of 15
Henry Jones Sr

Henry Jones Sr

Sean Connery, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989)

Codger Cred
: Few can deliver a withering put-down like Shir Shean, and his disapproving dad act meshed perfectly with Harrison Ford’s endlessly frustrated Indy.

Grouchy Gust:
“We named the dog Indiana!”

Cheer Up!
The mission to stop the Nazis getting the Holy Grail helps the pair reach more of an understanding, but the squabbles remain solidly in place.

We’re annoyed to learn Henry’s dead by the time of Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but he’d only have hated it like most of us anyway.

Page 3 of 15
Page 3 of 15
Ebenezer Scrooge

Ebenezer Scrooge

Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol (1 951)

Codger Cred: There have been many versions of Charles Dickens’ ultra-sour miser through the years, right up to the CGI Carrey version coming this Christmas.

But few can touch Sim’s channelling of the caustic old blighter, with “humbug” never far from his lips.

Grouchy Gust: “I'm too old and beyond hope! Go and redeem some younger, more promising creature, and leave me to keep Christmas in my own way!”

Cheer Up! He’s the ultimate example of redemption, helped by the ghost of his old partner and three seasonal spirits to see the error of his ways.

Page 4 of 15
Page 4 of 15
Curly Washburn

Curly Washburn

Jack Palance, City Slickers (1991)

Codger Cred: One of the toughest codgers to happen along, Curly is not the sort of bloke you argue with – he’s tougher than old boots, he spits, he curses and he could shoot you dead with one eye closed. Or both.

Grouchy Gust: “I crap bigger than you!”

Cheer Up!
In reality, he’s a little more cheery than most of the misery guts on our list, but he’s still a moody sod when he wants to be.

But he does teach Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby a little something about being real men.

Page 5 of 15
Page 5 of 15
Mr Potter

Mr Potter

Lionel Barrymore, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Codger Cred:
Potter is a grasping, gritty old cur who pushes to end the “sentimental hogwash” of home loans for the poor.

When George Bailey (James Stewart) decides to commit suicide, the vision he’s given shows Potter winning out and making Bedford Falls into a nightmare.

Grouchy Gust:
“You're worth more dead than alive!”

Cheer Up!
Potter's plans get thwarted. We don’t see what truly happens to him, but we bet he’s pissed off when the citizens of Bedford Falls rally round to help Bailey. He probably chokes on the milk of human kindness.

Page 6 of 15
Page 6 of 15
Emperor Palpatine

Emperor Palpatine

Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi (1983)

Codger Cred: He rises to power as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, hiding his Sith Lord side so effectively that even Yoda has no idea of his true identity or intent.

By Return, he’s the fully powered-up, surprisingly spry wrinkle-laden, elderly git with a nifty line in force lightning.

Grouchy Gust:
“The alliance... will die. As will your friends. Good, I can feel your anger."

Cheer Up! He does seem to love having the ultimate power in the universe,but it doesn’t go so well for Palpatine, as his apprentice finally turns on him and he gets the shaft.

Page 7 of 15
Page 7 of 15
Old Biff Tannen

Old Biff Tannen

Thomas F Wilson, Back To The Future, Part II (1989 )

Codger Cred: The Biff of 2015 has grown into a bitter, twisted, hobbling, but still quite sprightly gremlin.

Delighting in torturing anyone within cane range, he ends up stealing the DeLorean so he can change his past.

Grouchy Gust:
“Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Huh? Think, McFly! Think!”

Cheer Up! Biff creates a horrific, alternative 1985 where he’s a Bill Gates-wealthy scumbag. But it doesn’t last long.

The older Biff carks it shortly after returning from his chrono-meddling trip.

Page 8 of 15
Page 8 of 15
Walt Kowalski

Walt Kowalski

Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino (2008)

Codger Cred:
Angry as hell, war vet Walt wants to keep to himself. But the local kids – and gang members – just won’t leave his neighbourhood in peace.

So what’s a man to do? Grab up a shotgun and growl at ‘em, that’s what!

Grouchy Gust: “I used to stack f***s likes you five feet high in Korea... use ya for sand bags.

Cheer Up! Walt’s experience with Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang) changes him for the better.

But – spoiler alert! - his understanding is short-lived when he decides to take matters with the gang into his own, gun-laden hands.

Page 9 of 15
Page 9 of 15
John Gustafson/Max Goldman

John Gustafson/Max Goldman

Jack Lemmon/Walter Mattau, Grumpy Old Men (1993)/Grumpier Old Men (1995)

Codger Cred : Two of the best known cine-complainers arrive as Lemmon and Mattau re-kindle their epic comedy pairing for this quarrelling double bill.

Bitching like girls in a playground, the twosome nevertheless remains pretty loveable.

Grouchy Gust: Max: “Good morning, dickhead.”
John: “Hello, moron.”

Cheer Up! The sequel might not exactly live up to the original, but it does give them some measure of peace and calm.

Page 10 of 15
Page 10 of 15
Denethor

Denethor

John Noble, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)

Codger Cred: Mired in mourning, Denethor has let his stewardship of Minas Tirith sink into a sea of corruption and bad advice.

Upon seeing his unconscious son Faramir (David Wenham), he cracks and makes up a funeral pyre for him and his boy. Unfortunately, Faramir’s not actually dead.

Grouchy Gust:
“No tomb for Denethor and Faramir. No long, slow sleep of death embalmed. We shall burn, like the heathen kings of old.”

Cheer Up! Um, no. Thwarted, Denethor makes a dash for it, only to throw himself off the giant fortress.

Page 11 of 15
Page 11 of 15
Warren Schmidt

Warren Schmidt

Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt (2002)

Codger Cred: Dialling down his usual sharp sarcasm for the slumped shrugs of Schmidt, Nicholson embodies Warren as a man deflated.

Sure, he can snap and scrape when with the best of 'em, but it’s a more nuanced turn fuelled by angst and uncertainty.

Grouchy Gust:
“Relatively soon, I will die. Maybe in 20 years, maybe tomorrow, it doesn't matter.”

Cheer Up ! He comes to some understanding at the end. But it does mean experiencing a naked Kathy Bates along the way. Shudder.

Page 12 of 15
Page 12 of 15
Jack Byrnes

Jack Byrnes

Robert De Niro, Meet The Parents (2000)/Meet The Fockers (2004)

Codger Cred: Jack has spent his life ferreting out lies and injustice, so you can sort of see where he’s coming from. He’s understandably suspicious when a strangely named male nurse wants to marry Jack’s beloved daughter.

Set in his ways, Jack is a slow-burn ball of fury waiting for the right match to set him off.

Grouchy Gust: “If I find that you are trying to corrupt my first born child, I will bring you down, baby. I will bring you down to Chinatown.”

Cheer Up! Byrnes loves his family and his cat, Mr Jinx, and he even learns to open up a little in the sequel.

Page 13 of 15
Page 13 of 15
Manny

Manny

Jonathan Harris, A Bug’s Life (1998)

Codger Cred: The species isn’t known for its kindness to the males, what with the females snacking on them after sex.

Manny has his own reasons for his grouchy demeanour, as no one appreciates his magic show art, and he’s reduced to performing in a cheap flea circus.

Grouchy Gust:
“You listen to me, my boy. I've made a living out of being a failure, and you, sir, are not a failure.”

Cheer Up!
He gets a second chance on life when Flik (Dave Foley) hires him to help save his ant colony from marauding grasshoppers, and ends up a hero.

Page 14 of 15
Page 14 of 15
Boris Yellnikoff

Boris Yellnikoff

Larry David, Whatever Works (2009)

Codger Cred: Woody Allen finds the perfect moody muse in David, who has made a living playing a thin-skinned, easily frustrated fool.

Boris is a mixture of the two, a ranting, endlessly annoyed soul who lets loose on anyone around.

Grouchy Gust: “I’m dying! Not now… I mean, eventually.”

Cheer Up! Drifter Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) makes him realise that you don’t have to look for a pattern in life, just - title alert! - whatever works.

For Boris it’s falling (literally) for a woman named Helena who can put up with his shtick and his s**t.

Page 15 of 15
Page 15 of 15
James White
Freelance Journalist

James White is a freelance journalist who has been covering film and TV for over two decades. In that time, James has written for a wide variety of publications including Total Film and SFX. He has also worked for BAFTA and on ODEON's in-cinema magazine. 

See more Movies Features
Read more
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
The 32 greatest movies under 90 minutes
 
 
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
The 32 greatest movies about dads ever made
 
 
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
 
 
The Naked Gun popcorn bucket
The Naked Gun's wild popcorn bucket is an ingenious throwback gag to one of the original movie's raciest jokes
 
 
Chris Pine and Denzel Washington in Unstoppable
The 32 greatest train movies of all time
 
 
The Naked Gun
The Naked Gun sequel called "deliciously stupid" and "an actual comedy movie" in first reactions: "If there was any justice in the world, Liam Neeson would get an Oscar"
 
 
Latest in Movies
Mark Hamill admits he thought Luke Skywalker returning in The Force Awakens "would be a mistake" at first
 
 
Man of Tomorrow concept art showing Superman and Lex Luthor teaming up superimposed over a group of heroes from the cover of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
Almost 90 years after Superman was first called the Man of Tomorrow, James Gunn is reviving the name for his big sequel
 
 
David Corenswet as Superman
Superman fans are discussing who should play Brainiac in James Gunn's DCU, and they're looking at actors who embody the character's "cold calculating voice" and "alien intelligence"
 
 
Robert Pattinson in The Batman
Clayface Easter egg could be yet another hint at Robert Pattinson in the DCU, and fans are going wild
 
 
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey helped me through the toughest times, but The Grand Finale feels like the perfect time to wrap things up
 
 
Jackie Chan & Tony Leung Ka-fai
Jackie Chan meets his match in the trailer for a new action thriller that has been leading the Chinese box office for three weeks
 
 
Latest in Features
Pokemon Pokopia screenshot showing Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all gathered around a Ditto in human form between two green trees
Pokemon Pokopia: everything we know about the Pokemon game that looks a lot like Animal Crossing
 
 
A taurus-shaped robotic figure with flaming innards, against a dark background with rocks visible
Helsmiths of Hashut review: Fear this new Warhammer Age of Sigmar army, because it's gonna kick ass
 
 
A screenshot of the upcoming Switch 2 game, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave with a character using a purple energy blast
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave – Everything we know about the strategy game's Switch 2 debut
 
 
Mario
How well do you know the Super Mario series?
 
 
Hade 2 early access screenshots
After 105 runs in Hades 2, I suddenly unlocked three huge side stories I thought were bugged and I guess I'll be here 'til launch
 
 
Cronos tips
Bloober Team just teased its unannounced Switch-only horror game for maybe the first time since 2024, and my dream of seeing Nintendo get NSFW has been reignited
 
 
  1. Gwent: The Legendary Card Game box on a wooden surface, with cards visible in the background
    1
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  2. 2
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  3. 3
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  4. 4
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  5. 5
    Cronos: The New Dawn review: "An unabashed mash-up of survival horror greatest hits, from Dead Space to Silent Hill, with plenty of its own gory ideas"
  1. Vera Farmiga as 'Lorraine' in The Conjuring: Last Rites
    1
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  2. 2
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  3. 3
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  4. 4
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  5. 5
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  1. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams in Wednesday season 2 part 2
    1
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  2. 2
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  3. 3
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  4. 4
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  5. 5
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...