Movie Review: Grown Ups

“Seriously, I need to become a screenwriter.”  That’s what I was thinking about 15 minutes into Grown Ups. I assume you’ve seen the previews, yes?  Then you’ve seen about a third of the good gags from the movie.  The movie does get better later in the story, but early on, most of the laughter I heard in the theatre was done by the stars of the movie, laughing at their own jokes.

Briefly, here are the main characters:

• Adam Sandler plays Lenny Feder, a Hollywood agent with a fashion designer wife, Roxanne Chase-Feder (Salma Hayek). They have spoiled brat kids who text their needs to the nanny. Feder seems embarrassed by his success and is teased by the other guys for being wealthy and for having gone “Hollywood.”
• Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is a lawn furniture salesman who is married with kids and a dog, and is not as successful as he is trying to appear. He is the butt of a constant stream of jokes about his weight. (By the way, I really like James’ website.)
• Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is an unemployed, stay-at-home dad who spends his days trying new recipes and being insulted by his wife and live-in mother-in-law.
• David Spade plays Marcus Higgins, the single, girl crazy party animal who truly hasn’t grown up yet.
• Rob Hilliard (Rob Schneider) is a sensitive, metaphysical vegan who is teased relentlessly by the other guys because he is married to a much older woman.

The group reunites when they attend their childhood basketball coach’s funeral. They then decide to spend a weekend together at a lake house with all of their families. Being in close quarters and reminiscing about their coach forces the friends to examine their own lives and relationships with their families. Feder is particularly upset with the realization of how his children are so out of touch from normal childhood experiences. In the end, there are many admissions, confessions, and vows to be better – from the guys and even some of their wives.

There were some funny bits and laugh-out-loud moments, but with this many comedians, I expected way more laughs. The concept was good, but the script just wasn’t strong enough. I suspect there was a lot of ad-libbing going on by all the actor/comedians. I almost gave this movie a two, but because it did get better as it went along, and because they at least tried to convey some positive messages about relationships and families, and because it was slightly better than Sex and the City 2 (but what wasn’t), I give it two and a half out of five Slurpees.

Grown Ups Soundtrack: Those of you who were around in the 80’s will recognize many, if not most, of the songs played throughout the movie, including “Goodnight Tonight” by Paul McCartney, “The Party’s Over” by Journey, and “Two Tickets to Paradise” by Eddie Money

* Grown Ups * Director: Dennis Dugan * Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock * Time: 102 minutes * Rated PG-13 * Trailer * Soundtrack *

10 Upcoming Movies

Here are 10 movies that will be released in the next couple months. I don’t necessarily plan on seeing all the movies on this list {cough Twilight Eclipse cough}, but I do plan on seeing most.

1. Wednesday, June 23 – Knight and Day; Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz; Action/Comedy/Thriller; PG-13
   ~ An everyday woman gets mixed up in the life of secret agent who is trying to avoid being captured.
2. Friday, June 25 – Grown Ups; Adam Sandler, Salma Hayak, Kevin James; Comedy; PG-13
   ~ Five high school friends reunite on July 4th after their old basketball coach dies.
3. Wednesday, June 30 – Twilight Saga: Eclipse; Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattison; Fantasy/Romance/Thriller; PG-13
   ~ Continuation of the saga in which Bella must choose between Edward and Jacob.
4. Thursday, July 1 – The Last Airbender; Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz; Action/Family/Fantasy; Not yet rated
   ~ The young Avatar, who is the only master of all four elements, has been called upon to help restore harmony.
5. Friday, July 9 – The Kids are Alright; Annette Bening, Julianne Moore; Comedy; R
   ~ Two siblings of a lesbian couple want to bring their sperm-donor father into their lives.
6. Wednesday, July 14 – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Nicolas Cage, Jay Barachel; Fantasy/Comedy; PG
   ~ A master sorcerer recruits a seemingly average guy to train to help fight the evildoers.
7. Friday, July 16 – Inception; Leonardo DiCaprio, Kan Watanabe; Action/SciFi; PG-13
   ~ A thief has the ability to steal ideas by entering others’ dreams.
8. Friday, July 23 – Salt; Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber; Action/Thriller; PG-13
   ~ A CIA agent is accused of being a Russian spy who is going to attempt to kill the U.S. president.
9. Friday, July 30 – Twelve; Emma Roberts, Chace Crawford; Drama/Thriller; R
   ~ A drug dealing dropout’s cousin is killed and his best friend is arrested for the crime.
10. Friday, August 13 – Eat, Pray, Love; Julia Roberts, Javier Barden; Drama; PG-13
    ~ A recently divorced woman embarks on a round-the-world journey of self discovery.