![]() ![]() ![]() But like everything else in this laugh-free buddy comedy, it’s presented strictly for silly gags and a barrage of dried out jokes, most of which don’t even make sense within the context of their scenes. It’s an opportunity for some sort of comedy, or at least a plot. Marcus, basically a toned-down version of Spade’s much funnier bachelor character in the show “Rules of Engagement”, discovers that he has a hulking, ne’er-do-well son who arrives at the train station for the last day of school with an innate urge to inflict bodily harm upon his diminutive dad. Kurt and Eric are just along for the ride, so to speak, as Lenny procures a school bus from its psychotic driver, played by an almost unwatchable Nick Swardson, who is self-medicating because his wife left him after three weeks because of some ridiculously lewd act involving a banana (Swardson tags along most of the way like a drunk clown, as always given carte blanche in the freaky idiot department). Lenny, of course, is the center of the film’s attention, having made a boatload of money in California and now settled back in his hometown in suburban America with his wife Roxanne (Salma Hayek) and three kids, who are not only the least juvenile of the bunch but are also the high point of the film (I must give credit to Alexys Nycole Sanchez, who is adorable as Lenny’s daughter). ![]() “Grown Ups 2” takes place over the course of one very long day (at 100 minutes, it is interminable) in which Lenny (Sandler), Kurt (Chris Rock), Eric (Kevin James) and Marcus (David Spade) are celebrating the start of summer (Rob Schneider is notably absent in this one), but are really just dealing with the same mundane domestic situations that were presented in the first film (it regurgitates several familiar scenarios, too – think pee in the pool) while improvising their way through its vacant script. And if that doesn’t do it, the urinating deer will. By coining terms like “burpsnart”, which refers to a rapid succession of three bodily functions (I’ll let you guess which ones they are – it is performed several times in this movie), upping the number of “PG-13 friendly” phallic references to new levels and spending too much time on the antics of irrelevant side characters, none of which are the slightest bit inspired but are undeniably eye-catching, they’re sure to earn the respect of kids under the age of twelve while simply annoying the poor parents who’ve taken them to see it. The smart money said that this film was going to be terrible, but I thought at least there was the possibility of improvement.īut somehow, it’s gotten worse. I probably should have taken that into account earlier this year, considering that the team of director Dennis Dugan and writer/comedian extraordinaire Adam Sandler are a virtually unstoppable force, having produced a film almost every year since 2007’s lackluster-at-best “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”, and growing more tiresome ever since then (both “Just Go With It” and “Jack and Jill” made several “Worst Of” lists in 2011, including mine). It’s hard to describe how terribly unfunny 2010’s “Grown Ups” was, and even more of a challenge to capture the ineptitude of this week’s “Grown Ups 2” with words, other than to say I might need to increase my rating for “Hangover Part III” by a half star just to make space for this one in the proverbial dumper. ![]()
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