Review: Grown Ups

#94 - Grown Ups


Grown Ups is a feel-good film about five friends reconnecting 30 years later when they find out their old basketball coach passed away. They have all gone their separate ways, and their lives have taken completely different paths. Lenny is an agent to the stars of Hollywood, Eric is the co-owner of a furniture company, Kurt is a stay at home dad, Marcus is a single ladies man, and Rob is a spiritual healer married to an 80-year-old woman. When they hear of their basketball coach, Buzzer, passing away, they bring their families together at a lake house where the guys would spend most of their summers. During this weekend, the families bond and find out that sometimes life needs to slow down, so you can pay attention to the things (and people) who matter most.

I hate to admit it, because I am not a huge fan of Adam Sandler, but this movie is good. Sandler's films always take a turn for the serious about 3/4 of the way through, and most of the time I don't like it; however, Grown Ups has a great message to it. In this technology obsessed culture that we live in now, most people lose sight of what is truly important. We lose contact with friends and family, and we are so worried about being ahead of everyone that we never take a moment to just slow down and enjoy life. Each family in this story is given an issue that we encounter in our society today, and then when you put them all together, they work through the differences to have an epic weekend filled with laughs and fun. Lenny's family is the one with the rich, fancy lifestyle, where everything is handed to the kids. They have never worked for anything a day in their lives. Eric's family is the one that babies their children, so their four-year-old son is still breast-feeding and their daughter thinks she can do whatever she wants. The parents do not discipline, and it has made the children feel like they are superior. Kurt's family has a working mother and a stay-at-home father. Kurt cooks and cleans all day, and receives no appreciation from his family. They have Kurt's mother-in-law living with them, and she does nothing but belittle him each and every day. Marcus has no family. He has chosen the single life. He has no responsibilities, but you can tell he feels as though he is missing something in life. Finally, Rob's family consists of three daughters he abandoned while they were growing up due to his failed marriages, and he is now married to an old woman twice his age. He has tried to take the spiritual path, but the mistakes he has made throughout his life keep coming back to haunt him. So, basically, put these five guys and their families in a cabin for a weekend, and the comedy writes itself.

The jokes are funny, and the connections between the characters are believable. When you get together with your best friends, whether it's after one week or 30 years, it's like you never were apart. This film does a great job of showing that. The guys reminisce about their glory days, and try to get their children to enjoy the same things they once did. Of course, because it is a Sandler film, you do have the stupid jokes that come out of the blue and jolt you from the story for a second - such as Rob's third daughter and Wiley riding the zip line with his feet -  but overall, the movie is a win.

I give Grown Ups 4 out of 5 stars.