THAT’S MY BOY

RYAN: The new movie from Happy Madison Productions stars, of course, Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, who apparently is realizing a dream co-starring with his boyhood idol.  And I liked it more than I expected to.

ERIN: It’s not the typical kind of movie I would find amusing.  It’s a total boy movie; but, I actually laughed quite a bit.  That surprised me.

RYAN: I laughed more in the first three quarters of the film and the ending is relatively satisfying but it does lag a bit before the film’s resolution.

ERIN: And the ending was abrupt.  I was expecting outtakes.  But it was still a typical Adam Sandler movie with the potty humor and cheap shots and going for the… What do you call it?

RYAN: Shock value.  It makes me think of the There’s Something About Mary hair scene.  Every comedy wants to create an iconic moment out of something nasty.  But the one thing I can’t stand about this film is the baby voice Adam uses in the film.  He always puts on these character voices and they annoy me to no end.  The mullet and the stuck-in-the-80’s-look was fine.  I think his characters could be just as funny with a normal voice.  It makes his performance so fake.

ERIN: What bothers me about the accent he uses is that it distracts you.  It takes you out of the movie and what you should be focusing on.  The movie was cute and funny and quirky but there were times that his accent did throw me off.

RYAN: I totally agree.  And as for Andy, he was good and not irritating at all… but he ended up in the straight man role.  He didn’t get any comedy.

ERIN: That’s true!  I didn’t think about that.

RYAN: He was the anchor of the film, the serious guy that everything happens to.  He had some physical comedy in his reacting to things but this wasn’t the showcase I think he hoped it would be for his film career. 

ERIN: I had read that he was dying to do a comedy with Adam which I thought meant they would both be doing comedy but you’re right – Andy didn’t have almost any comedic moments.

RYAN: I loved all the SNL cameos… Will Forte, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer – She was hilarious!

ERIN: She’s so funny. 

RYAN: And Vanilla Ice has quite a sizable role!

ERIN: And he was good!

RYAN: And he looks good! 

ERIN: And funny.

RYAN: But I have to comment on how weird it was that young Adam Sandler was played by a Latino boy.  Could they not find a young Jewish boy in Hollywood to play him?  So random.

ERIN: I was so thrown by that too.  That is some crazy casting. 

RYAN:  Then there’s Ava Amurri Martino and her mom Susan Sarandon who each had, like, five minutes in the movie but were good.  Leighton Meester was fine but she kinda looked like J.Lo during some of the movie. 

ERIN: She’s ok.

RYAN: Adam is definitely in the Ben Stiller/Will Ferrell category… over-exposed comedian.  He’s so been there/done that with these characters.  But this movie is better than his shtick.  I wasn’t that perturbed aside from his voice.

ERIN: It was better than his other recent movies.

— BOTTOM LINE —

ERIN: There were some good moments in it but it’s no Prometheus.

RYAN: It’s a decent R-rated comedy but not an original spin on the genre ala Bridesmaids.  It’s a filler movie…  Worth a rental but not a must see.