The death of their childhood basketball coach leads to an unlikely reunion for five old friends. Congregating at the site of their championship celebration, the group of guys reminisce about the glory days. Things have changed over the years as wives and children join in on the conversation, but it doesn't take long for the gang to show while they are all older, their maturity level remains the same.
Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider lead an all-star cast in Dennis Dugan's comedy Grown Ups. The film, which was heavily advertised in all forms of media, carried immense hype - hype that wasn't delivered in any form or fashion. The writing, directing and even acting all proved to be subpar, ultimately creating a film that is both unfortunate and highly disappointing.
While Sandler, James, Rock, Spade, and Schneider are all great stand-up comedians, they do not make a great team on the big screen. Much of the film consists of each throwing out a steady stream of one-liners, phrases that were both random and out of character for the party in question. Surprisingly the worst acting was not done by any of the aforementioned males, that honor goes to the beautiful Salma Hayek. Her part was simple enough, that of Sandler's wife, but her delivery was absolutely terrible as she looked uncomfortable with her role in the film.
The storyline was one of predictability, and the character portraits were entirely off-base. Sandler, whose character could be construed as the "leader" of the group, was portrayed as the fancy, Hollywood, rich man. This was hammered home at almost every point in the film, becoming a tiresome bore not half way through. The other 'off' role came from Chris Rock as he attempted to portray a flamboyant stay at home dad. I mean, did they really think we would go along with that?
I will admit that Grown Ups did have a few moments where I let out a slight laugh, but for the most part I thought the jokes weren't funny. The older audience members seemed to enjoy it far more than I did, as I often caught those around me snickering at otherwise lame and out-of-date jabs.
Overall, Grown Ups is not what the studio built it up to be. The group of comedians, while talented, did not perform to my expectations. I would say that it is average at best, with only occasional funny moments. Judging by the reaction of the older crowd, I feel that this movie was not made for the college demographic. Regardless, I would not recommend seeing it in theaters. There are just too many other, better films out there.
