By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
Adam Sandler's new comedy, "Grown Ups" is just a silly, good-natured movie that has plenty of laughs including a few cringe-worthy ones. It's everything you'd expect from a Sandler buddy comedy that stars David Spade, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and Kevin James.
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Lenny Feder (Sandler) is a big time Hollywood agent and his beautiful wife Roxanne (Salma Hayek) is a sought after fashion designer. They have two very spoiled kids, that aside from playing video games, don't seem capable of doing much anything else without the help of their nanny.
Then there's Kirk McKenzie (Rock). He's a stay-at-home dad who watches TV and tries--very unsuccessfully--to cook by watching Rachael Ray's show. His family--including his workaholic wife Deanne (Maya Rudolph) and his always around mother-in-law, Mama Ronzoni (Ebony Jo-Ann)-- lets him know every time they sit down for dinner that they'd rather eat something else.
Eric Lamonsoff (James) is married to Sally (Maria Bello) and he has had an employment setback, but you wouldn't know it by the way he still rolls. Rob Hilliard (Schneider) has found true love in the arms of a 75-year old woman (Joyce Van Patten) and Marcus (Spade) hasn't grasped the meaning just yet of being grown up.
It's been nearly 30 years since these guys have all been together. They were a close-knit group during their junior high school days. They played together on the school basketball team and celebrated their first championship victory under the guidance of their beloved coach who admonished them to "play life like you played that game."
Now, when the middle-age guys learn their coach has died, they all get together for his funeral at the same lake/resort where they celebrated their championship party and to reminisce of the good old days.
Meeting up for the guys brings back lots of memories, both good and bad. It also brings out some of their junior high school humor, pranks and wild behavior.
By now you've seen the trailers for "Grown Ups" with Kevin James swinging from a rope and sailing straight into a tree as well as the guys all in the large splash pool doing their business and turning the water blue in the process. Those scenes hold up well and are just as funny in the movie as are most of the other crazy antics they get into. But the bit with Bello nursing a 4-year-old boy is shockingly funny the first time, then as it wears on it becomes more gratuitous and a desperate attempt for laughs.
"Grown Ups" does try and redeem itself towards the end of the movie and even moves from its humorous state to a slightly more serious one with a message about parenting. However, screenwriter Fred Wolf, a longtime writer for "Saturday Night Live," has peppered the film with so many crude jokes and physical humor about bunions, breasts and even bestiality, that message will likely be lost on audiences who will be laughing way too hard to even notice.
