by Jonnie Chastain

Created on: July 01, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW: GROWN UPS

WRITERS: Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf

DIRECTOR: Dennis Dugan

GENRE: Comedy

RELEASED: July 25, 2010

MPAA RATING: PG13.

RUN TIME: 1 hour 42 minutes

CAST: (Unless you’ve been in suspended animation for the past several years these guys need no introduction)

             Adam Sandler

             Kevin James

             Cris Rock

             David Spade

             Rob Schneider

This fun bunch is surrounded by enough talent to more than please most movie buffs. Salma Hayek, who wowed us in Desperado before moving on to greater things, can still take your breath away even in the unlikely role of Sandler’s wife, Roxanne. Maria Bello is Sally, the wife of Kevin James. She has proven her abilities with a long list of acting credits including 25 episodes of TV’s ER playing Dr. Anna Del Amico. Maya Rudolph, a Saturday Night Live alumni and the voice of Rapunzel in Shrek the Third, fit’s the part of Chris Rock’s pregnant wife, Deanne, quite nicely. Joyce Van Patten, whose lengthy acting career includes 20 episodes as Maureen Slattery in the TV series ’Unhappily Ever After’ (1995-1996), is totally believable as the free-spirited love partner, Gloria, in a May/December relationship with Schneider.

OPENING SCENE: Five gangly school friends dribble and bank-shoot their way to a basketball championship.

THIRTY YEARS LATER: Each of the, now grown up, members of that winning team receive the news that their coach has died.

Their reunion at the funeral is followed by a fourth of July weekend at the lake house where they celebrated their victory all those years ago.

With their respective wives and children in tow they catch up while recapturing their boyhood. (David Spade, the only single of the group, has ample opportunity to prove once again how well he plays the role of a woman-chasing bachelor.)

It’s a hoot from start to finish. Yes, some of it is predictable but that does not take away from it’s value as family entertainment.

It isn’t just about laughs. There are actually some lessons to be learned. We are reminded that boys will be boys. We are also reminded that men sometimes act like boys and that it’s not always a bad thing. We are reminded that family and friends enrich our lives and make us better people. We learn that winning is not always the most important thing and that losing can be an act of kindness.

Most of the reviews I read were not kind to this movie. In some cases it sounded like the writers had not seen the same movie I saw. I suspect that some saw nothing more than the trailer and formed an unfair opinion. It is entirely possibly some based their review on a dislike (shame, shame) for Adam Sandler.

Perhaps I’m just more easily amused than others but I laughed until I cried, as did my 18 year old grand-daughter. It was a delightful way to spend part of a hot summer afternoon.

For sheer entertainment, of the escapism kind, I give it 5 stars.

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