Attraction can not be explained, it has to be felt.
Jack Lemon is attractive. And I am several decades younger than him, born in the late sixties.

the only possible reason I can think of is shortage of men. the number of women exceeds that of men steadily as you get older, since men tend to die younger. So if you are an older woman who wants a man, your choice gets more limited as you age, and more and more men drop off the perch.

Just saw it again funny film but Ann-Margaret was 51 when she made this, and Walter Matthau was 73! Jack Lemmon was about 70.
Ann-Margaret was logically young enough to be their DAUGHTER! Daryl Hannah would more properly been the age to be their GRANDDAUGHTER.
What a conceit of Hollywood that MALE actors are considered to be about 20 years younger than their chronological ages! and nobody can imagine pairing them up with women THEIR OWN AGE.
I note at the final scene, in the church wedding, we see that the town has plenty of women who look to be 60-70 the right age to be dating Matthau or Lemmon but they are only "sparked" when beautiful, much-younger Ann-Margaret shows up!
Given the ages of the children (Hannah, and Kevin Pollack), Matthau and Lemmon did not marry and have kids until their 40s? Possible, but unlikely back in the 1950s.

I just thought she was being kind. Maybe wanted to do something nice for them. Change them and make them happy. I guessed she was with some young guy also. Somewhere else in town but they just didn't show it.
Edit: Although she did marry him at the end so

attractive and energetic, interested and interesting, enthusiastic and funny
and she lives in rural Minnesota. Whatever qualities you attribute to that character, ass, they can't ultimately negate the weirdness of her situation, and thus the possibility that she'd be drawn (weirdly) to one or the other of them -however repellent they are to you. As a New Yorker, I'm open to all fantastical plays from the heartland, this one included.

She eccentric. She steals mail and makes her way into people's homes to use their bathrooms in the dead of night.

I too could never understand what she saw in them, other than just friends and neighbors. For me, the fact that she actually got jiggy with Lemon made the movie very unrealistic. Yes, I know it's a movie, comedy, whatever, but that's my take on it.

Gotta agree. Why would she settle for one of them. Ann-Margret looked great. One of my favorite Hollywood beauties along with Ingrid, Grace, and Sophia.

AuburnSilverScreen,
I just have to pass on the advice of my 96 year old grandmother..she was watching Something's Gotta Give with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. She said "Diane Keaton should've chose the young doctor!" (Keanue Reeves)
Why the beautiful Ann Margaret "settled" for either of her elderly, humorless neighbors is beyond me. She spiced up their lives, but what did either of them do for her??? And isn't that almost always the case? LOL.
-Jane

They (mis)cast her in the part and she played the part. It isn't exactly believable but hey, it's a comedy.
"Did you make coffee? Make it!"Cheyenne.

I don't really see her character as being anything more than spice, adding fuel to the fire. Not saying that Ann-Margret didn't play a major factor, just that she was the [new] trophy of a lifelong feud.
"A naked American man stole my balloons".
An American Werewolf In London

One wordLUST. As my mother used to say, "There's no fart like an old fart". They were lonely and needed female, but I do not agree it has to end up as a sexual encounter. That goes for younger people too.

She had to. It was in the script!

But see, you may be tired but you're not dull, proved by your sly reference to Erasmus. You have a risque sense of humor. Lemmon's character, especially, has no sense of humor. Certainly nothing like yours.
Besides, I'm not questioning their interest in her, or their delight in her interest in them. I understand perfectly. I just don't understand why she's interested in these grumpy, humorless people.

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