Sometimes I like to check out a movie that I’m not particularly interested in, or one that I assume will be very popular with the general movie going public to gauge what current tastes are trending toward. I have seen Grown Ups, and I’m scared what it means for comedy movies in the U.S. if THIS is what makes people laugh.

Grown Ups looks to have an all-star cast, but you’d really be mistaken. There is but ONE bankable star in the film, and that’s Adam Sandler. But, oh how the mighty have fallen in his regard. His more dramatic turns (Punch Drunk Love, Funny People) have been enjoyable, but his comedies have been increasingly dreadful for the better part of a decade now. And I know it sounds like stock “Old Sander is awesome Sandler” stuff that you hear everyone say, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the truth. Here, you have Sandler co-writing and producing a movie if for nothing else to get some of his struggling friends a tally under the “Career Win” column, a column none of them have visited recently. Guys like Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Chris Rock. Continue reading →