Release Date – 6/25/2010
Five best friends growing up have lost touch over the last several years. They are all informed of the passing of their elementary school basketball coach, the guy that taught them a lot of life lessons. They get together at the funeral and decide to spend the 4th of July holiday weekend together catching up on old times. A lot has changed over the years, yet some things are exactly the same. They spend the weekend getting to know each other’s families and making fun of one another at every chance they get. The movie was pretty good despite horrendous reviews. It seemed like you were looking a t the real lives of these guys as they just poke fun at each other endlessly. Its not the greatest comedy as some of the one liners and comebacks stink but it provides some decent laughs. Plus since its got kids and adults in the movie and deals with families, almost all ages can enjoy.
Adam Sandler plays Lenny, the big Hollywood agent who got rich and left his friends behind. He married a beautiful fashion designer (Salma Hayek), his kids are spoiled, and he travels around with a nanny. He tries desperately to fit in with his ‘Regular Joe’ friends and hide his rich and famous lifestyle. Kevin James plays Eric, the friend who got fat. His wife (Maria Bello) still breastfeeds their 4 year old. Just constant fat jokes and fatty fall down humor for James. It wasn’t funny at all. I love Kevin James in King of Queens but he was the weak link in this movie. Chris Rock plays Kurt, the house husband who is belittled by his successful wife (Maya Rudolph) and mother-in-law (Ebony Jo-Ann) at every turn. It’s a funny role for Rock who gets very sensitive and womanly at times. David Spade plays Marcus, the guy who never grew up. He’s still getting hammered and trying to pick up chicks even though he’s in his 40s. I don’t know why, but I get a kick out of David Spade ever since Joe Dirt. They put him in the perfect role here. Finally there’s Rob Schneider as Rob, the older woman loving, vegan weirdo. I think they tried making his character similar to him in real life, the guy everyone else picks on the most. They constantly rag on him and he gets mad. Its pretty funny.
There’s so many other characters in this that I cant possibly name them all but some side ones need mention. Colin Quinn plays the hometown bully who still lives in the past. He accuses Sandler’s character of being out of bounds when taking his game winning shot in grade school. Also, the best part of the movie (and I might be biased) was Steve Buscemi as one of Colin Quinn’s hooligans. I think I cracked up at every one of his scenes but he doesn’t even show up until the final half hour or so. He could have been used more. Another great cameo type role for Buscemi in a Sandler flick. Once again solidifying his place as a great character actor.
The movie tries a bit too hard to teach some life lessons. If it was a straight up silly comedy from beginning to end then it would have been better but instead we get lessons on raising families and staying close to friends. All good lessons but not really needed in an Adam Sandler comedy. The dramatic scenes were a bit weak and the comedy scenes were hit or miss depending on if you liked the one liner or comeback being thrown out. Even though the only character I didn’t like was Kevin James, it still wasn’t that strong of a movie for me. Since I’m a big fan of the guys involved, I liked it but wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. There’s a lot of Sandler haters out there nowadays that want Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. This isn’t like that. Older Sandler isn’t as whacky anymore (he tried with Zohan and got killed by critics) and director Dennis Dugan (Chuck & Larry) would rather stick to more family friendly, based in reality, comedies for him. Even though this also got hammered by critics, its at least worth a watch.
IMDB – 5.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 10%
Movie Wiseguys – 6.5/10