That’s My Boy and Jack and Jill took a hit, but the original Grownups made 271 million worldwide, so it seemed a no brainer for Sandler to do a sequel. Every July we get a Sandler film yet again and again, no matter how good or bad they are, there is some message about the value of love and family.
But for this, its the summer’s best most highly-entertaining-film next to World War Z – albeit for an entirely different set of reasons.
One can’t do the jokes justice, but it’s no joke there will probably be a Grownups 3.
In this storyline, lovable Lenny (Adam Sandler) is still married to his gorgeous wife (Selma Hayek) yet feeling like a ‘Townie’ since moving home from Hollywood. Seems in his life of kids and catastrophes, no sooner one problem is solved another one begins. But he taps into acceptable toilet humor to solve his problems along with his other married buddies, Kevin James (married to Maria Bello), Chris Rock (married to Maya Rudolph) and one single buddy, David Spade, married (sort of) to his I-didn’t-know-I-had-a-teenage-son-with-anger-management-problems. Steve Buschemi, Shaquille O’Neal and Jon Lovitz round out the group of local home boys…the mechanic, the cop, and Driver’s Ed teacher.
But the town’s biggest nemesis is the group of snot-nose entitled college kids led by “Abercrombie” Twilights’ Taylor Lautner. The clash of culture becomes the thread that weaves the story of family values gone hometown proud. What makes Adam Sandler movies have a heart is his ability to tackle the ordinary things we run into, might think of, remember, but never bring to life. The movie is one laugh-out-loud moment after another but as the end wraps up at an 80s party, with all of them transforming into everyone you can think of – from Prince to Richard Simmons, from Boy George to Indiana Jones, you’ll feel very old but at the same time very historic.
♔ ♕ ♚ ♛