Grown Ups Movie Review

Grown Ups (2010)

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Written by: Adam Sandler & Fred Wolf
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Verdict
It doesn't ask much, and it doesn't offer much. You don't need to pay close attention as there's not much of a plot. The laughs are few and repeated, relying on cheap shots and gross outs. I thought this might look at what these guys became and examine any regrets amidst the humor but this is too shallow for that kind of reflection. This needs something more. It's an idea, and not much else past guys making fun of how each other look.
Skip it.

Review
This could have been funny and reflective. instead it relies on easy gags without considering the inherent humor of life and how despite being thirty years older, some things never change.

The premise is that five kids on a middle school basketball team, Lenny (Adam Sandler), Eric (Kevin James), Kurt (Chris Rock), Marcus (David Spade), and Rob (Rob Schneider), meet up at the funeral of their former coach thirty years later. It's a flimsy premise, but it brings them together. They make fun of each other like they're still in grade school. I'd have to guess a lot of this is riffing by the comedians. It's dumb jokes as they make fun of each other's appearance.

Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Adam Sandler play Eric, Kurt, Marcus, Lenny

From there they rent a cabin and spend the weekend together where Lenny is self conscious of the nanny he brought, lying that she's a student. His kids are also obnoxiously spoiled. Eric pretends to have a better job than he does. Kurt feels emasculated in his marriage, Marcus is the aging playboy that isn't as suave as he thinks, and Rob is just odd in all regards. The group makes fun of each other, but it's just surface level jokes. I guessed this would in part deal with where they ended up in life, hopes, regrets, and ambitions. I hoped the movie would do that just to give this some depth. This doesn't even attempt it.  This doesn't try to mine the comedy inherent in life and where you ended up versus where you saw yourself. It seemed like it might look at Lenny's pampered life and how spoiled is kids are versus how he grew up, but just when you think the movie might get reflective it changes course.

This relies on juvenile humor that isn't always that funny. While it has moments, like the arrow roulette sequence, its best moments don't warrant a watch. Lenny's nanny is a running joke that never pays off. It just fills space. There's no plot or goal. It's just comedians roasting each other.