Grown Ups: The Review

Grown Ups was one of my most anticipated movies of the summer, so I gathered the crew and we ventured out to see the movie starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider on opening night. Was I disappointed? No. Was I thrilled? No. Was I pleased? Yes. So what kind of shitty assessment is that? Let me tell you.

When you group the five real-life comedic friends together for a movie, the expectation for a top-notch comedy comes to the forefront. When friends get together there is a certain chemistry that happens. Jokes roll off the tongue and fall in the right places, it's just a bunch of friends having a good time. That is what the movie does well.

Sandler and James do their part to keep the pace of the movie going forward. They provide a solid foundation, while Spade plays the same lady-loving single man that we are accustomed to from him - see Rules of Engagement. Rock adds basically nothing to the movie except for some random one-liners, but then again that's basically what I would expect from him. He plays a stay at home punk of a man used to being verbally assaulted by his wife and kids - that probably isn't far from what I would imaging his true life to be. Schneider plays a weird little man - like normal. I don't really know if you can script him in any other role, but it is a role we are used to seeing from him. As different as each of the characters are in the movie, it goes to show you that good friends stick together no matter what the circumstances and life brings to the table.

The plot is centered around five kids that won a basketball championship together. They are brought back  together after their championship coach died and the five friends spend a holiday weekend with their families at a cabin they enjoyed as children.

The movie premise is great. The movie flowed well and the idea behind the five friends reuniting and picking up where they left off is what makes the movie what it is. It was overall entertaining and it was a good movie from that aspect. If you are going to this movie expecting one of the greatest comedies ever made, you will be disappointed, but that is not what this movie is about. It is about friends remaining friends after years of not being together and for that it portrays an incredible message: Friends will band together in tough times.

Knox Animal Rating: 3.5/5 

(Strong message of friendship)