Directed by:
Dennis DuganCinematography:
Theo van de SandeComposer:
Rupert Gregson-WilliamsCast:
Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Joyce Van Patten, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, is a comedy about five friends and former teammates who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives (Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph) and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn’t mean growing up. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (7)
Adam Sandler is de facto the lead role, producer, and co-writer – which means the whole "tale" is Sandlerian everywhere you look. A lot of the jokes go beyond good taste (but that's a rule with Sandler movies) and this time I probably enjoyed the mocking lines the most (like the scene of ripping Kevin James at the funeral was without flaw) and the relative ease of the story – I emphasize "relative" since the final pathos on the pier was laughable and the emotional wallowing in the scenes where little kids have their ideals stolen from them was at the very least embarrassing, if not obscene. Still, there are a few gags that are definitely worthwhile and as an absolutely (but really absolutely) unpretentious diversion, Grown Ups doesn't offend, but it doesn't impress in any significant way either. A perfectly average Sandler film with a good cast.
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Grown Ups is another comedy with a “script”. Let’s line up today’s most popular comedians and let them improvise and have fun. Something will surely come out of it, something that will make more than a hundred million dollars in U.S. cinemas alone and we’ll all be happy. The movie has a poor plot and makes poor use of the individual actors’ uniqueness, and the most valuable character actor of the entire film, Steve Buscemi, plays the biggest idiot here. Thanks, but no thanks.
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It’s a corny comparison, but even Sandler has attempted his version of The Expendables and the result is a solid collection of comedians per square foot on the film set, and it's clear that everyone enjoyed the shoot to no end. There are no annoying family values, and in fact, the guys are old enough to mentor the little kids, but all the fart and gerontophile jokes are painfully torturous. You'll also soon realize that for this bunch the film is relatively shallow in terms of being funny. Still, it’s pretty good and everyone except Schneider acts and the Salma & Maria duo is absolutely perfect :-)
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Dennis Dugan made up for his post-Zohan reputation with this one. I was actually almost afraid to go see this movie. I was that disgusted with Sandler in Zohan! Fortunately, I was quite entertained by Grown Ups. I don't even know why... I mean, they only did one thing... they simply tossed a bunch of (fairly) successful actors and lakes together and said "do something funny in there". Maybe Mr. Dugan wasn't even there, so it turned out well beyond expectations. 3.5 stars.
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Constant, overly vulgar insults that aren't even remotely funny, cheap situational humor, unsympathetic jerks in the lead roles, a face buried in poo several times (I don't even want to guess whose it was)... Well, that was quite the comedy. More like a series of sketches. Not funny at all. I give a star for Steve Buscemi in the water park and Salma Hayek throwing frogs. And that’s it.
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Big disappointment for me, and not even my favourite Adam Sandler could improve it. The story makes no sense, it doesn’t have any unexpected twists or a central premise for the screenwriter to draw on for further ideas, it felt as if the actors had bought a couple of kegs of beer, set off on a children's adventure and filmed it all on camera. It's nothing but madness that knows no bounds, but unfortunately it lacks some of that good and improvised humour, and without it, any Sandler comedy immediately loses its charm.
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The sequel definitely impacted me more, but even in this first installment, I felt like I knew these characters even though I had never seen them before. So, it wasn't hard for me to connect with them and laugh along. It's simply because these actors often work together, so you get used to seeing them together. I love Sandler's humor, and I easily accept his concluding moralities. Keep it up!
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