MOVIE OF THE WEEK (5/23/14): BLENDED
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Terry Crews, Bella Thorne, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Wendi McClendon-Covey, Joel McHale, Kyle Red Silverstein, Emma Fuhrman, Zak Henri, Braxton Beckham, Jessica Lowe, Kevin Nealon, Dan Patrick & Shaquille O'Neal
WRITER(S): Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera
DIRECTOR(S): Frank Coraci
WEB SITE: http://blendedmovie.com/
60 SECOND PLOT SYNOPSIS (OR AS CLOSE TO IT AS ONE CAN TRY TO MAKE): Together again on screen for a third go round, Blended stars Drew Barrymore as Lauren, a single mom of two very rambunctious boys, the baseball-hating Tyler (Kyle Red Silverstein) and the puberty-discovering Brendan (Braxton Beckham). A closet organizer along with her co-worker/friend Jen (Wendi McClendon-Covey), she is still reeling from her divorce from her never-there-for-her-or-anyone-else ex Mark (Joel McHale).
Meanwhile, Jim (Adam Sandler), is a manager at a local Dick's Sporting Goods who works alongside his tall – and emotional – co-worker Doug (Shaquille O'Neal). He's also a single dad of three impressionable girls, his tomboy oldest daughter with a terrible haircut Hilary (Brenda Thorne), his still-missing-her-mother middle child Espn (Emma Fuhrman) – she's named after his favorite TV network – and happy go lucky youngest child, Lou (Alyvia Alyn Lind).
And then they are set up on a date together ... Which sees Jim take her to Hooter's. The disaster mercifully ends when Jim pulls the ol' "I gotta take this call and now there's a fake emergency so I must leave" trick that Lauren was going to pull on him before he did it first. As fate would have it, Jim ends up bumping into Lauren at a local convenience store, then ends up needing to return her credit card ... Which is how he ends up hearing about a fantastic vacation opportunity in Africa ...
But guess who else plans on taking her kids on the same trip? The person who can probably figure out what happens next!
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST?: Adam Sandler fans, Drew Barrymore fans, Terry Crews fans, people who like an upbeat film with an underlying happy message and simple, 90s-style sitcom jokes, people who enjoy movies where kids deliver the best jokes
WHO WON'T – OR SHOULDN'T – LIKE THIS FILM?: Just about anyone who said they were done with Adam Sandler movies after Grown Ups, Jack & Jill, Grown Ups 2 ...
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Read along closely, for what I am about to say may be shocking to some, downright unbelievable to others and a welcome revelation to long-suffering Sandler fans: Blended is NOT horrible ... But that doesn't mean you need to rejoice about it, either.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT? Here's what Blended does well: [1] Takes advantage of letting its younger co-stars and Terry Crews – who REALLY commits to his role as Nickens, the buff singing antagonist at the resort Barrymore, Sandler and co. arrive at – drive the film and do the heavy joke-lifting while Barrymore and Sandler [2] Lay back and hit their marks well enough to make you [3] Deal with the standard, easy Happy Madison joke fair before [4] Occasionally hitting some genuinely funny moments and [5] Unexpected twists that make it a tolerable date movie.
Granted, it may be hard to imagine all that when you watch either of the trailers above which rely on good 'ol zaniness to get by. Fortunately, most of that zaniness is contained to the few scenes featured in said trailers, the scenes that flat completely flat and feel tired (and YES, there are enough that it's noticeable) are bested by the ones that do not and Lind is undeniably cute and good in her role.
Other than that, there's really not much else you need to know about Blended. You already know the outcome of the film if you pay 10 seconds of attention to it, but there is some fun to be had on the way there. Just don't expect there to be so much unique, creative fun that won't be the best thing you experience all summer, but fortunately is no longer automatically going to be the worst.
Consider it a blend of good and bad comedy where the good outweighs the bad enough to serve as a decent date night out.
WHO WON'T – OR SHOULDN'T – LIKE THIS FILM?: Just about anyone who said they were done with Adam Sandler movies after Grown Ups, Jack & Jill, Grown Ups 2 ...
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? Read along closely, for what I am about to say may be shocking to some, downright unbelievable to others and a welcome revelation to long-suffering Sandler fans: Blended is NOT horrible ... But that doesn't mean you need to rejoice about it, either.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT? Here's what Blended does well: [1] Takes advantage of letting its younger co-stars and Terry Crews – who REALLY commits to his role as Nickens, the buff singing antagonist at the resort Barrymore, Sandler and co. arrive at – drive the film and do the heavy joke-lifting while Barrymore and Sandler [2] Lay back and hit their marks well enough to make you [3] Deal with the standard, easy Happy Madison joke fair before [4] Occasionally hitting some genuinely funny moments and [5] Unexpected twists that make it a tolerable date movie.
Granted, it may be hard to imagine all that when you watch either of the trailers above which rely on good 'ol zaniness to get by. Fortunately, most of that zaniness is contained to the few scenes featured in said trailers, the scenes that flat completely flat and feel tired (and YES, there are enough that it's noticeable) are bested by the ones that do not and Lind is undeniably cute and good in her role.
Other than that, there's really not much else you need to know about Blended. You already know the outcome of the film if you pay 10 seconds of attention to it, but there is some fun to be had on the way there. Just don't expect there to be so much unique, creative fun that won't be the best thing you experience all summer, but fortunately is no longer automatically going to be the worst.
Consider it a blend of good and bad comedy where the good outweighs the bad enough to serve as a decent date night out.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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