Grown Ups
3.5/4
Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Joyce Van Patten
Rated PG-13 for Crude Material including Sexual References, Language and Some Male Rear Nudity
In today's world, where quick electronic entertainment is so easy to get to, real fun and happiness that comes from our interaction with others and exercising our brains is becoming increasingly rare. That's ironic, because ultimately that stuff is far more memorable than what you did playing "Halo." "Grown Ups" works because it remembers this simple fact.
In 1978, five friends won a championship basketball game. They part ways and only reunite 30 years later after their beloved coach passes on. All five players return, with their families in tow, for the funeral. They are Lenny (Sandler), who was become a mega successful Hollywood agent and is married to a fashion designer (Hayek) with a naiive daughter and two spoiled sons, Kurt (Rock), who is a house-husband to his pregnant wife (Rudolph), family man Eric (James), whose wife (Bello) is still breastfeeding their four year old, Rob (Schneider) who loves melodrama as much as he loves older women (his wife is played by Van Patten), and Marcus (Spade), who is in a state of arrested development.
The beauty of the film is that it's smart enough to know that it doesn't need a plot. There are movies that need plots (like "Black Book"), while others do not. "Grown Ups" is the latter. Since the set up is so ripe with promise, constraining the jokes to a narrative will only hamstring the film. Instead, the filmmakers have established the characters and let the sparks fly.
The male cast members have such good chemistry that it's not hard to believe that they have a relationship off screen. They're natural performers and none of them reach for laughs. A lot of the dialogue seems (and probably was) improvised. The actresses are good, but really, they're just there for the guys to play off of. Only Salma Hayek gets a chance to do something with her character, and she, like everyone else, appears to be having a lot of fun.
"Grown Ups" has another round in the chamber: nostalgia. I challenge anyone to watch this film and not be reminded of those fun summers as a kid when you did all those crazy things with your friends and family. Watching this movie reminds me of that, and I can't wait to revisit them this summer (although it does star Taylor Lautner. Still, he's playing a frat boy villain, so we can hope that he'll get what's coming to him).
Starring: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Joyce Van Patten
Rated PG-13 for Crude Material including Sexual References, Language and Some Male Rear Nudity
In today's world, where quick electronic entertainment is so easy to get to, real fun and happiness that comes from our interaction with others and exercising our brains is becoming increasingly rare. That's ironic, because ultimately that stuff is far more memorable than what you did playing "Halo." "Grown Ups" works because it remembers this simple fact.
In 1978, five friends won a championship basketball game. They part ways and only reunite 30 years later after their beloved coach passes on. All five players return, with their families in tow, for the funeral. They are Lenny (Sandler), who was become a mega successful Hollywood agent and is married to a fashion designer (Hayek) with a naiive daughter and two spoiled sons, Kurt (Rock), who is a house-husband to his pregnant wife (Rudolph), family man Eric (James), whose wife (Bello) is still breastfeeding their four year old, Rob (Schneider) who loves melodrama as much as he loves older women (his wife is played by Van Patten), and Marcus (Spade), who is in a state of arrested development.
The beauty of the film is that it's smart enough to know that it doesn't need a plot. There are movies that need plots (like "Black Book"), while others do not. "Grown Ups" is the latter. Since the set up is so ripe with promise, constraining the jokes to a narrative will only hamstring the film. Instead, the filmmakers have established the characters and let the sparks fly.
The male cast members have such good chemistry that it's not hard to believe that they have a relationship off screen. They're natural performers and none of them reach for laughs. A lot of the dialogue seems (and probably was) improvised. The actresses are good, but really, they're just there for the guys to play off of. Only Salma Hayek gets a chance to do something with her character, and she, like everyone else, appears to be having a lot of fun.
"Grown Ups" has another round in the chamber: nostalgia. I challenge anyone to watch this film and not be reminded of those fun summers as a kid when you did all those crazy things with your friends and family. Watching this movie reminds me of that, and I can't wait to revisit them this summer (although it does star Taylor Lautner. Still, he's playing a frat boy villain, so we can hope that he'll get what's coming to him).
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