The Sandler Reunion Movie
were all on the junior High School basketball team together and whilst it has been thirty years since they played together they find themselves coming together when their beloved coach passes away. It is at the funeral that they decide they along with their families should get together at a lake house for the 4th July weekend. But each person has their issues as whilst Lenny despairs that his children are spoilt and won't embrace the things he tries to teach him, Eric can't get a job, Kurt is unappreciated by his family, Marcus still acts like a teenager and Rob still has a fetish for older women.
Whilst I love a movie which is original and makes you sit up and pay attention I also love the familiar, the sort of movie which you put on and you know it isn't going to tax you with a storyline which is going to demand your full attention. It is for that reason I like "Grown Ups" as it isn't plot heavy; in fact it feels like a combination of two classic storylines with the reunion movie combined with the chaos of a family holiday. Oh and for good measure a touch of men behaving badly. Admittedly some people will find remixing other movies not that enthralling but it you like easy to watch then "Grown Ups" certainly is.
What this actually means is that "Grown Ups" is a showcase for the main actors talent's. That means Kevin James ends up providing the slapstick and pratfalls, Chris Rock does the attitude and facial gags, David Spade does the annoying man-child who still wears children size clothes whilst Rob Schneider ends up the butt of plenty of the jokes as the health freak. And then there are the women and quite simply Hayek, Bello and Rudolph are criminally under used. As for Sandler, well he is in "Click" mode, the grown up who is not as angry as some of his characters and it works. But that is it and that means if you are not a fan of Adam Sandler and his friends this is going to be a 102 minute slog full of unoriginal humour which recycles old gags.
What this all boils down to is that "Grown Ups" is basic, it is Adam Sandler and friends bringing their humour to the sort of comedy which the likes of Steve Martin, John Candy and Dan Aykroyd did decades earlier. And surprisingly it works in an easy to watch manner if you are a fan of Sandler and his friends.
