Grown Ups

Director: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Joyce Van Patton
Running Time: 102 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Adam Sandler just can't seem to catch a break, can he? In last year's commercially unsuccessful dramedy Funny People he even made it a point to spoof the fact that everyone thinks he makes bad movies for big paychecks. And that's sometimes very true, but unforgiving audiences have so soundly rejected every attempt he's made to stretch out of his juvenile comfort zone, that's he's often left with little alternative. Except many of Sandler's comedies aren't bad at all and throughout his career he's always had a strong grasp on what's funny. Grown-Ups is vintage Sandler but with a slightly mellower and laid back twist and as is the norm with his work, it's better than it's being given credit for. With a comedic line-up consisting of Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider you could call it The Expendables of comedy (or a 90's SNL reunion) in terms of star power, except co-writer Sandler and director Dennis Dugan don't just gather the talent up and call it a day. While containing very little plot there's still a lot going on, but it's balanced well and boasts a sharper script than expected. More importantly, it succeeds in providing laughs all the way through without taking itself too seriously, allowing it to rank on the higher end of recent Sandler efforts.

Lenny (Sandler), Eric (James), Kurt (Rock) Marcus (Spade) and Rob (Schneider) are four childhood friends who fell out of touch but are reunited as adults when they hear about the recent passing of their junior high school basketball coach, "Buzzer" (Blake Clark) who led them to a state championship in 1978. His advice to them was to live their lives like they played the game but now as "responsible" adults it's clear that advice has flown over some of their heads, or at least they could use a healthy reminder. Lenny is a high-powered Hollywood executive married to famous fashionista, Roxanne (Salma Hayek) with whom he has two spoiled kids.  Eric is unemployed but lying about it as his wife, Sally (Maria Bello) still feels the need to breast feed their 5-year-old. Kurt is hen-pecked by his controlling wife, Deanne (Maya Rudolph) and constantly mocked by his mother-in-law who gets enough insults from him in return. Marcus is a lifelong bachelor who refuses to abandon his womanizing ways while eccentric vegan Rob is primarily concerned with pleasing third wife Gloria (Joyce Van Patten), who's over thirty years his senior. Now all reunited, Lenny rents the lake house for the Fourth of July weekend for the guys and their families, but saying the film consists of them  dramatically reassessing their life priorities wouldn't be accurate, which is a relief considering that was my main worry going into this.

Your level of tolerance for the four lead actors goes a long way in determining how much (or little) you get out of this, but despite sporting an unimpressive cinematic track record of late, are all surprisingly likable here and some (Schneider, Spade) are even the least annoying they've ever been. To the movie's advantage, the plot is an afterthought as the enjoyment comes in watching these guys just hang out and goof around. That seems like an insult but isn't when you consider the majority of the jokes and gross-out gags click in a big way and a potentially sappy message about "growing up" isn't rammed down our throats like it usually is.  Sandler's past the point where he can keep playing angry juveniles so this material finds a nice middle ground for his persona, allowing him to act like a relatively normal adult while still retaining the immature goofiness that's been his trademark. His pairing with Hayek  seems off-putting at first and they'll probably never be completely believable as onscreen spouses, but they still work surprisingly well together, or at least well enough for me to suspend disbelief and temporarily buy into it. Even the subplot with their spoiled kids who act like entitled adults plays just right in striking a timely chord without sacrificing any laughs. It was an interesting decision to cast fairly well known actresses in Hayek, Bello and Rudolph, filling supporting slots that aren't usually given the time of day, a tactic that pays off as potentially thankless wife parts come off feeling more important than they otherwise would. While the roles are predictably underwritten, they're at least sharply written and none of the actresses' talents are necessarily wasted, a small miracle considering this is a guy-driven comedy. Kevin James is the most likable (and maybe funniest overall) of the four, David Spade's suitably slimy and unlikable, a restrained Chris Rock gets some good digs in, and in the biggest surprise, Rob Schneider is not just funny in a movie, but at times borderline hilarious. His sub-plot carries the film and has some unexpected developments along the way. They're are also some smaller cameo appearances from Steve Buscemi, Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows and Norm MacDonald, most of which feel unforced and are actually funny.

Say what you wish about Sandler as an actor or comedian but he knows what's funny and also knows that when you're making a comedy, you're aiming to make audiences laugh and do little else. That should be obvious, but unfortunately too many "comedies" (namely Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and most recently Get Him to the Greek) try to go all sappy and dramatic and this comes dangerously close to skirting that line in the final act. Luckily, Dugan and Sandler seem to know this and pull back, even putting a somewhat unexpected twist on "the big game" at the end, finding the right tone that other writers and directors seem to be struggling with. Grown-Ups is fairly safe and predictable, and definitely doesn't reinvent the wheel in terms of comedy, but still fits nicely under the banner of his Happy Madison production company, which boasts more creative misses than hits, never quite recapturing the magic of his two most successful comedies that inspired that name. Grown Ups doesn't either and likely wouldn't hold up at all on a second viewing, but it's smartly written and made me laugh hard, which at least qualifies it as better than most of what's currently out there.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Director: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Dan Aykroyd, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi
Running Time: 110 min.
Rating: PG-13

** (out of ****)

It's okay to be gay! In case you didn't know that, just see I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, a movie that gladly shoves that message down your throat for two hours. It's a shame too, because as far as raunchy comedies go it isn't completely worthless and until it starts patting itself on the back for its message the movie is at least somewhat entertaining. That this isn't the total bomb everyone has claimed it to be is something of a miracle considering the quality of the script and that can be largely attributed to the performance of an actor whose name happens to NOT be Adam Sandler.

Contrary to what you've heard, the film probably wouldn't be offensive to gays, who are more likely to just find the whole thing stupid, which it's supposed to be and is. The movie is too busy offending other groups like New York City firefighters (who are made out to look like complete morons) and Asians, as the film features the worst Asian American stereotype since Mickey Rooney's appearance as a Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The film is overlong and predictable, but contains a couple of laughs, most of which are provided by the supporting characters. After a while though it starts to be too much and it feels like we're being hammered over the head repeatedly with a feel-good message. And the message is an odd one considering the type of movie this is. When Lance Bass shows up to sing a George Michael song you know we've officially gone to hell and there's no turning back.

In a predictable set-up, FDNY firefighter and recent widower Larry Valentine (Kevin James) must re-marry so his kids can become the primary beneficiary of his pension. Obviously straight, but still grieving the death of his wife Larry is unwilling to allow another woman into his life and convinces his reluctant womanizing co-worker Chuck Levine (Sandler) to enter a "domestic partnership" with him.

According to Larry, Chuck "owes him" for saving his life in a burned house and their attempts to pull of this blatant scam soon catches the eye of the government. They seek out lawyer Alex McDonough (Jessica Biel), who warns them that a specialist will start tracking their every move, hoping to expose them as frauds. That Steve Buscemi plays this specialist is one of the film's few delights. The others are a sub-plot involving Larry's unease with the behavior of his very effeminate son (played well by Cole Morgen) and an amusing supporting turn by Ving Rhames as a firefighter with a secret. Gee, I wonder what that secret could be.

The script, which occasionally has its moments, is unfortunately plagued with a big problem that's been infecting most Hollywood comedies these days: Trying to milk laughs from topics that just aren't funny. Early in the picture Sandler's Chuck is making jokes about Larry's deceased wife. Are we supposed to laugh? I don't know about you but I don't know how many best friends would light-heartedly joke about something like that, or how many of them I'd consider "best friends" if they did. It seems to writers felt they had to treat Larry's wife's death as a joke since it was the only way the script could believably get Chuck and Larry into this union.

Rob Schneider appears out of nowhere as a Japanese priest, complete with slanted eyes and yellow skin. How funny. Firefighters are treated as being so clueless in this movie that you'd think they've never seen as gay person in their lives. An alien invasion wouldn't cause as much shock for them as homosexuality. Gay characters seem to appear out of the woodwork, including the neighborhood mailman. The stupidity kicks into overdrive heading into the final act as the movie celebrates the joys of being gay, despite spending most of its running time making fun of it. We're also punished with some grandstanding courtroom drama and a really embarrassing speech from Dan Aykroyd (!) as the fire chief.

Sandler is Sandler in this. He's funny sometimes and annoying at others. What saves this film from a descent into the abyss is the chemistry between the two leads, specifically the likeable performance from Kevin James, who proves here that he's capable of carrying a comedy and deserves the opportunity to star in a really good one in the future. That his name will forever be attached to this project is sad because he actually does a terrific job.

As simplistic as the script is, Sandler and James play off one another well and are believable both as best buddies and New York City firefighters. They do look like they're having a good time, which goes a long way and prevents the film from being completely unentertaining. Had it ended twenty minutes earlier and spared us a lesson in gay rights we could have possibly had something.

I was frightened when I heard Jessica Biel would be portraying an attorney, but surprisingly she wasn't too bad. What's amusing though is she's believable in the scenes where she's practicing law and speaking legalese, but when the action shifts outside the office and she has to act like a normal person it comes off all wrong and rings false. Maybe she missed her calling and should have become a lawyer instead of an actress.

The possible romance with her and Sandler's character seems like an afterthought since the film seems much more interested in throwing a gay pride parade than exploring any heterosexual relationship. It may seem like a obvious complaint, but it's impossible to believe Biel's character would even consider these two guys are anything but straight. A smarter script would have had her slyly taking them along for the ride to teach them a lesson.

This is one of those comedies that when it ends you think it wasn't that bad, then about 10 minutes later you realize it really was. It's also a strange curiosity in that it's a gay comedy that appears to be aimed at a straight audience. Whoever it's for, it's a misfire. What the film's marketing team has gone to great lengths to avoid, but I would have plastered on the DVD cover, is that this mess was co-written by Alexander Payne, the Oscar winning scribe who gave us such films as Election, About Schmidt and Sideways.

The studio should have instead trumpeted this fact to give us all inspiration that even the best of us can run into a brick wall creatively every once in while. Since there are two other writers credited we may never know just how guilty Payne is but that he had a hand in it at all is disturbing enough news for me. I have little doubt a documentary exploring that topic would be funnier than most of what we experience in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.