Grown Ups Blu-ray review

I’m no believer, as I’ve written on this site before, in guilty pleasures. I always figure, or at least I do now, that if you like something, then you like something. And I like Adam Sandler movies.

Not all of them, granted. You Don’t Mess With The Zohan was pretty terrible. Little Nicky not much better. 50 First Dates was hard work, and The Waterboy did nothing at all for me. But there are films that I giggled sufficiently at, in spite of their flaws, that I’d happily sit through again. I’m thinking Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, and The Longest Yard. I really like his more serious films, too, and found myself warming a lot to Funny People and Spanglish, when many others didn’t. Punch-Drunk Love is ace, too.

So, where does Grown Ups fit in? Well, it’s arguably one of Sandler’s laziest comedies to date. It’s a mini-Expendables of a certain generation of comedy action, throwing together Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Steve Buscemi and Kevin James in the one film. These are then dragged together by a script that desperately lacks killer lines, the ilk of which a cast of this calibre (Schneider aside, for my money) could have done something suitably impressive with.

Still, they make a good fist out of generating something from pretty much nothing, and inevitably, the highlights of Grown Ups is when they’re all sharing the screen together, trading comedy blows.

There aren’t belly laughs here in abundance, but I found the whole film quite amiable, quite enjoyable, and worthy of a few sniggers. It did leave me wishing that all concerned had pushed a bit harder, because it’s not often that a comedy ensemble of this sort comes together. But Grown Ups, as it stands, will do. Nothing more than that.

The Disc

The package on offer here isn’t bad, although not compelling enough to tip you over the edge if you’re thinking of picking up the film. The presentation is good, with really quite fine picture and sound quality. But it’s the bitty collection of extras that are of most interest.

For your money, you get a fun commentary track, along with the predictable collection of gag reel, outtakes, and ‘making’ of material. It’s all very promotion-centric, as you might expect, and you don’t learn a great deal of interest. But it’s harmless enough to watch.

The Film:

The Disc:

Grown Ups is out now on Blu-ray and available from the Den Of Geek Store.

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