{"id":2836,"date":"2013-10-18T10:42:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T15:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2836"},"modified":"2013-10-18T10:42:03","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T15:42:03","slug":"lost-review-grown-ups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/10\/18\/lost-review-grown-ups\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost Review: Grown Ups"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginning in December 2005 with my history of apes in film essay \u201cGorilla of Your Dreams\u201d (the\u00a0substantially\u00a0update and\u00a0revised\u00a0version\u00a0appears in\u00a0The Apes of Wrath<\/em><\/a>), I regularly contributed to\u00a0Moving Pictures Magazine<\/em>. First in the print incarnation and then for primarily the website. I contributed reviews and essays for the last three years of the publications existence. Following the June 2011 demise of both the print and website editions, all of the digital work for\u00a0MPM<\/em>\u00a0disappeared into the ether. In the coming months (years?), I plan on reposting many of my reviews and articles.<\/p>\n

I had forgotten ever seeing\u00a0Grown Ups<\/em>, never mind reviewing it, until I ran across the review on my computer. Thankfully, I managed to miss this summer’s ill-advised sequel.<\/p>\n

\"grown_ups_poster\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grown Ups<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Review by Rick Klaw<\/p>\n

June 25, 2010<\/p>\n

The latest Adam Sandler project Grown Ups<\/i> continues this summer\u2019s trend of disappointing, mediocre theater experiences.<\/p>\n

After the death of their coach, five best friends (Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) from a junior high basketball team reunite more than 30 years after their championship game. They decide to spend Independence Day weekend together with their families at the lake house where they experienced many of their best youth memories.<\/p>\n

Like the majority of Sandler’s films\u2014he co-wrote and produced the movie\u2014 the often weak, stereotype-based jokes grind on for far too long. How many lame fat jokes (played on Kevin James, who weighs less than many Americans) does one film need? One comment about a bad toupee will elicit a chuckle, but a dozen? While the grandmother-who-farts gag worked the first time, it fell flat after the fourth iteration.<\/p>\n

Even with the talented supporting cast of Oscar nominee Salma Hayek Pinault, Maria Bello (A History of Violence<\/i>), Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live<\/i>), and veteran TV actress Joyce Van Patten, Grown Ups<\/i> fails to rise beyond the pabulum of standard TV sitcoms. Unexpected cameos from Steve Buscemi, sportscaster Dan Patrick, and Tim Meadows offer a brief respite from the tedium.<\/p>\n

Director Dennis Dugan, whose previous credits include Happy Gilmore<\/i>, Beverly Hills Ninja<\/i>, National Security<\/i>, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry<\/i>, and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan<\/i>, oversees what amounts to not much more than a tortuously long Saturday Night Live<\/i> sketch\u2014Sandler, Rock, Spade, and Schneider all performed on the show together. The funniest moments of Grown Ups<\/i> occur when the actors revert to their stand-up comedic roots and obviously ad lib their lines. Sadly, poor editing often diminishes these scenes with awkward cuts.<\/p>\n

At 102 minutes, the story moves at a snail’s pace, as though the weekend-long story were actually depicted in real time. Beyond too few laughs, Grown Ups<\/i> successfully wastes the talents of its actors, and more distressingly, the audience’s time and money.<\/p>\n