Looking back at Adam Sandler's recent input into the the Hall of Cinematic Atrocities, it is easy to forget that his cinematic back catalogue has some high points: his early work, his rare dramatic roles, and his collaborations with Drew Barrymore. That final point brings us nicely to Blended. Teaming up with the actress for the third time after The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates (and reuniting with The Wedding Singer and The Water Boy director Frank Coraci), Blended attempts to add some drama amidst the typical humour we have come to expect from Sandler. But, try as hard as it might, it fails to capture the magic that made the earlier collaborations work, and fails spectacularly on every level.
First off, the plot is something you would find in a sitcom, with single parents Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) growing to hate each other after a disastrous blind date. Through a series of eye rollingly contrived events, they find themselves forced to share a holiday in Africa, where, surprise, surprise, they find themselves growing closer together. Now, I may be coming off as a bit hard on the plot, but that's because it is so bland and predictable, even more so than other films Sandler has put his name to. Another reason is that is moves painfully slow, spending an inordinate amount of time on the set up (we get it!! They're good parents, but have their hands full caring for their children by themselves. Move on already!!), to the point that when they finally reach Africa, you have already checked out. Things pick up slightly when the meat of the story finally kicks in, with the laughter blockade erected in the first act showing a few cracks, mainly down to Terry Crews as a hotel lounge singer who shows up in the strangest places. The humour basically amounts to throwing every gag at the wall and seeing if it sticks, and while some does stick (the movies best gag, involving some clever use of music, is repeated twice), it sits uneasily beside the overly schmaltzy family drama (Lauren's kids are dealing with a father that has no time for them, while Jim's wife has died, leaving a void in his kids lives) which becomes extremely heavy handed at times. I'm not going to say much about the lead pair, they don't even break anything even approaching a sweat here.
This is not the worst Adam Sandler movie ever (a title that seems to have changed hands a lot lately), and is slightly better than his recent efforts, but that is not saying much. Avoid!
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First off, the plot is something you would find in a sitcom, with single parents Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) growing to hate each other after a disastrous blind date. Through a series of eye rollingly contrived events, they find themselves forced to share a holiday in Africa, where, surprise, surprise, they find themselves growing closer together. Now, I may be coming off as a bit hard on the plot, but that's because it is so bland and predictable, even more so than other films Sandler has put his name to. Another reason is that is moves painfully slow, spending an inordinate amount of time on the set up (we get it!! They're good parents, but have their hands full caring for their children by themselves. Move on already!!), to the point that when they finally reach Africa, you have already checked out. Things pick up slightly when the meat of the story finally kicks in, with the laughter blockade erected in the first act showing a few cracks, mainly down to Terry Crews as a hotel lounge singer who shows up in the strangest places. The humour basically amounts to throwing every gag at the wall and seeing if it sticks, and while some does stick (the movies best gag, involving some clever use of music, is repeated twice), it sits uneasily beside the overly schmaltzy family drama (Lauren's kids are dealing with a father that has no time for them, while Jim's wife has died, leaving a void in his kids lives) which becomes extremely heavy handed at times. I'm not going to say much about the lead pair, they don't even break anything even approaching a sweat here.
This is not the worst Adam Sandler movie ever (a title that seems to have changed hands a lot lately), and is slightly better than his recent efforts, but that is not saying much. Avoid!
Follow @themoviebit
