Grown Ups

Comments   0   Date Arrow  July 14, 2010 at 2:36pm   User  by admin

While the star-studded summer comedy is certainly good for a few laughs, the truth is this movie comes up far short in terms of the sentimental depth it appears to be shooting for. Joined by co-stars Kevin James, David Spade, Chris Rock and Rob Schneider, the script tells the story of a former youth basketball team reunited at the funeral of their old-time coach. Having grown apart over the years, the group rekindles old jokes and friendships, using former bonds to help work through the midlife problems each is dealing with. While Adam Sandler has already cemented his place as a one of the most accomplished funnymen of all time, in recent years he stepped away from the purely goofy, fun-filled laugh-fests he blessed moviegoers with throughout the ninety’s. Classics like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore , The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, have been replaced by movies that don’t exactly seem to fit their place. Perhaps it’s partially because audiences have come to expect one thing from Sandler at a time in his life when he wants to open his movies up to fuller spectrums of emotions. Both Click and Funny People, for example, turned out to be a much deeper movie than advertised, pulling on heart strings in a way that viewers could relate to, although most had flocked to theaters for a slap stick comedy.Whatever the reason, his more current films have left audiences with mixed results, filled with both comedic and emotional bright spots but ultimately lacking in full development. Like its predecessors, Grown Ups suffers from not exactly knowing what it is, stranded somewhere between comedy and drama. Not to say that great movies can’t have heavy doses of both, however, in order to be successful they must come full circle in both departments. So far, Sandler’s attempts to balance both humor and sincerity have left audiences only half satisfied, often leaving one of two objectives one-dimensional.

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