Sidewalks On The Corner

In the photo (l-r, above) Chris Rock as "Kurt McKenzie", David Spade as "Marcus Higgins", Kevin James as "Eric Lamonsoff", Rob Schneider as "Rob Hillard" and Adam Sandler as "Lenny Feder" in Columbia Pictures' GROWN UPS. Does the teaming work?

Follow up:

GROWN UPS
OPENS: Friday, June 25, 2010 (wide)
MPAA Rating: This film has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity.
RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes
URL: grownups-movie.com
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Written by: Adam Sandler andFred Wolf
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph

Studio Synopsis:
Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider is a hilarious comedy about five men who were best friends when they were young kids and now are getting together for the Fourth of July weekend to meet each others' families for the first time. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn't mean growing up. The film also stars Salma Hayek, Maria Bello and Maya Rudolph.

Roxanne (Salma Hayek) and Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) in Columbia Pictures' GROWN UPS.

Richard's and J.P.'s Takes:
They were best buddies and played on the same basketball team during junior high. Thirty years later, they are reunited – along with their respective families – for the funeral of their old basketball coach (Blake Clark). The group decides to stay over the July 4th weekend in a lake house where they celebrated their once big championship.

I was looking forward in seeing “Grown Ups,” written by Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf ("The House Bunny") and directed by Dennis Dugan ("Big Daddy," "Happy Gilmore"), because I thought with all these current comedy-legends (OK, I’m pushing it), the film is going to be crazy that I should have a major stomachache from the laughter by the end of the film. Well, not really. Surprisingly, this was a “normal” vehicle for its stars, especially Sandler and Rob Schneider, who are noteworthy for the type of zany comedies like “The Waterboy” and “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” respectively. Maybe these aging actors have actually grown up?

This film is so simple in scenes it practically goes moment by moment ~ without any outrageous, over-the-top scenes. Usually in a film, there is a major conflict or some subplot that would pull the buddies into perils, but not in “Grown Ups.” Most of the comedy zings are the one-liners that the male stars say to each other. The only small quarrel in the film is the continuing resentment of one of the former member of the opposing team, who lost their infamous basketball game over an objectable call; and this situation is only a minor subplot of the film.

Does “Grown Ups” work? Pretty much yes – for an easy hayride of straight forward comedy. It’s not hard to understand what’s happening and the chuckles are just there, like long form Leave It to Beaver and Brady Bunch episodes (actually, there were more conflict in the Bradys' Hawaii and Grand Canyon vacation-themed shows than in "Grown Ups").

Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) cracks up at what his friend Lenny is saying at their basketball coach's memorial service. His wife Sally (Maria Bello) sits next to him in Columbia Pictures' GROWN UPS.

On casting, you can tell that there is major chemistry among the major leads. With the exception of Kevin James (playing Eric Lamonsoff), Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade and Schneider used to work together on Saturday Night Live. Of course, each has co-starred in some form in numerous other films. Their true friendship is there in all of its glory, like a get together at a bar, drinking beer and talking smack.

I do like that Sandler does attempt to give each character a little spotlight/moment, which includes the big, bad-mouthed grandma (Ebony Jo-Ann); the kids; and the men's wives (Salma Hayek-Pinault playing Sandler's wife Roxanne, who has to leave for a fashion show; Maria Bello playing James' wife Sally, who likes to breast feed their 4 year-old child, and Maya Rudolph playing Rock’s wife Deanne, who is the `husband` of the family). In a way, nobody gets the major spotlight, with the minor exception of Sandler’s character of Lenny Feder, who is considered the leader of the group.

As I watched the film with fellow SidewalksTV.com reviewer, J.P. Langston, he felt “Grown Ups” was a pleasant, family friendly film in nature, with almost no vulgarities. The scenes involving Marcus Higgins (Spade), who flirts with Rob Hilliard’s (Schneider) long lost daughters (Madison Riley, Jamie Chung) are about as sexual as it gets. Langston felt it was pretty tame and harmless by today’s standards. The only part he thought was weird about the movie: life for the fabulous five is so good no one is really all that angry at each other ~ not even for all the razing they do to one another. I felt the same thing about the buddies: there was no anger or discord between them even after 30 years. Maybe this could be the only unrealistic part of the film?

Any case, “Grown Ups” is a safe film for the entire family (like Langston states for today’s standards), with small innuendos of sexuality and a shot of Spade’s butt. It’s funny, not outrageously funny, but a cute 102 minutes.

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Richard R. Lee is the creator, executive producer and occasional on-air personality for the "Sidewalks Entertainment" project. His primary interest is in television programming and TV news. Although he views a variety of programs, he enjoys primarily sci-fi, comedy and adventure series, such as "Star Trek," "Firefly," "Battlestar Galactica," "Jericho," the "Stargate" shows, "Alien Nation," "Bosom Buddies," and "MacGyver." Additionally, he samples many of the entertainment talk shows and has seen many of the biggest shows hosted by Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, and Jay Leno.

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J.P. Langston is a member of "Sidewalks Entertainment" team primarily as a videographer. He loves movies, especially sci-fi horror and action comedies. Some of his favorite films include "Blade Runner" "The Matrix Trilogy," The (original) "Star Wars," "Equilibrium," "Serenity," "Kill Bill Vols 1 and 2," "Appleseed," "Unbreakable" and "Sin City." He has a large DVD collection, which is still growing. Since reviewing films for "Sidewalks," he has been expanding his palette for all types of films.