By now Adam Sandler fans know what to expect from his movies — goofy call-and-response jokes, a few gross-out sight gags, and some pratfalls, all delivered over a layer of good humored sexual dysfunction. Sandler takes advantage of the comedians that he's palled around with for the past three decades to create a casual comedy that's so laid back there's practically no story, and only barely any character arc.
The funeral of their middle school basketball coach gives cause for a weekend lake house vacation that unites five childhood buddies and their families. Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin James, and Sandler-movie-regular Rob Schneider join Sandler to lazily comment on everything from video-game culture to the middle-aged pretensions that each of their oddly compatible characters embody.
Sandler's Lenny is a Hollywood agent married to an exotic fashion designer (Salma Hayek). The couple's three-spoiled brat kids barely register, as do any of the film's child characters.
Kevin James plays Eric, husband to Sally (Maria Bello) his busty wife who maintains the dubious practice of continuing to nurse her 4-year-old son. Chris Rock's Kurt is improbably married to one very pregnant Deanne (Maya Rudolph). Rob Schneider's toupee-wearing Rob has the thankless task of escorting his decades-older girlfriend Gloria (Joyce Van Patten).
While David Spade's eternal-frat-boy character Marcus Higgins also ends up as the butt of more than a few questionably funny pranks performed by his similarly juvenile friends.
Although the movie rambles, and none of the jokes are anywhere near as funny as Sandler and his co-stars imagine, "Grown Ups" is a mediocre comedy with a generous heart.
Rated PG-13. 98 mins.
