Grown Ups - Review

This movie is not good. Now that the obvious is out of the way, let's get on with the review. Although this movie has no plot, an extremely weak character arc for all the major characters involved, and tons of awful jokes, I still enjoyed watching this movie. I would categorize this movie into the "it's so bad, it's good" category. However, I think that I can say that because of personal reasons as opposed to universal ones. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It's one of the best cities in the world, (in my opinion) because it's the perfect balance of nature and city. A four-hour drive east towards Alberta transports you to Shuswap Lake, a lake that I have visited every summer for almost fifteen years. Our cousins have a cabin up there and every time we go, we have a blast. The parents all hang out together, drinking beers, cooking on the BBQ or tanning on the beach while the kids would play in the water, down on the beach, skipping rocks, swimming, and occasionally take the boat out for a tube ride. This is exactly what the characters do in Grown Ups. And while the jokes in this movie may not be the funniest or they can be pretty dumb, the way that Adam Sandler and Kevin James and the others interact with one another reminds me of how my dad and my uncles and their friends act with each other at the lake. Making constant dad jokes. That's the only thing that is redeemable about this movie. The jokes remind me of my own life. And while some may be stupid, I did find myself laughing quite a bit at this movie because of how dumb it is. There is a whole scene dedicated to Adam Sandler and Kevin James slapping David Spade in the face while he lays on the couch passed out drunk with no pants on. It's stupid, but I watched it with some of my buddies and we were laughing hysterically. There is no smart humour here, just dumb humour. So if you like other Adam Sandler movies, then I think you will like this one. However, if not, then stay away at all costs. I would give it the bottom of the barrel rating if it wasn't for my personal connection to this movie and the fact that I was laughing quite a bit. So at least I was entertained.