Grown Ups: Review

Grown Ups, a comedy written by Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf, and Directed by Dennis Dugan, is about the trials of middle-manhood and the things we take with us when we get older.

The story opens with five best friends, all middle school age, playing the championship basketball game of 1979. After their victory, they and their families join their coach at a lake house for a celebration where the Coach (played by the venerable Blake Clark) departs his wisdom of playing the game of life as honestly as the boys played the championship game. This moment sets up the theme of the movie, and provides the heart of the story which is present until the end.

We rejoin the boys thirty-something years later, as each has become a middle-aged man. Hollywood agent Lenny Fader (Adam Sandler) lives the sweet life with his wife (Salma Hayek Pinualt) and three spoiled children, Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is an out-of-work ex-business man with his wife and three children, Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is a stay-at-home dad with a bullying wife and mother-in-law, Rob Hillard (Rob Schneiderr) is a hippy massagetherapistt with a wife 20-years older than he, and Marcus Higgins (David Spade) is an obnoxious layabout with little focus in his life.

When a phone call about the death of their coach sends each man and their family to his funeral, it is Sandler's character Lenny who orchestrates the lake house weekend getaway for all. What starts as a silly comedy about the obvious differences in generations becomes a touching, if not a bit cliched, parable about how no matter how old you get you can still find the child inside of you.

There is no way this movie could have worked if the cast themselves had not been life long friends; a fact which is obvious to see in their performances. James and Sandler especially seem to have a tight bond, often reminding the audience of their own friendship with someone from long ago. The timing of most jokes hit spot-on, with only the occasional miss by Spade who can't help but under-deliver his lines.

Sandler continues to prove with this film that as he matures as a person he also matures as an actor, bringing with him the same child-like sensibilities which his fans adore, but also presenting a depth and gravitas which can only come with age. Sandler's character delves deep into the desires of all fathers to ensure their children grow to understand the simpler, more honest things about childhood.

There is a transformation for the children as well, as the movie progresses through one July 4^th weekend at a lake cabin, and heals the wounds of modern day living that all (parents and children alike) seem to be afflicted by. Spoiled young brats become enthused youngsters seeking out innocent trouble, peeking in through the bedroom window of college-age beauties as opposed to playing hack-and-slash video games, noses burred deep in their PSP's.

If Sandler intended to suppose that all our troubles stem from an unconnected family unit, he succeeds brilliantly.

Overall this film does exactly what it should: entertain. Like the stories I heard during the holidays by my Uncles about their adventures as kids, this movie brings a fun and silly sort of nonsense to the deep, weighty realities of getting older. I believe everyone over the age of 25 can find something in this movie to identify with, but only the thirty or forty-something year old fathers will really "get" it.

I give "Grown Ups" a 4 out of 5.