Grown Ups

Rating:***

There have been several films about old friends catching up after decades and rediscovering their childhood as well as their relationship. What makes Grown Ups different is that in this film,when they meet,it is with not only wives in tow but also children. It is not only they who discover childhood afresh but their kids as well,after having got used to leading manicured,screened lives in secure homes with video games for company.

While even that may not seem much of a premise,Grown Ups comes together in good ways to convey a sense of camaraderie and a feeling of being lived-in that can escape projects more well thought out than it. For long stretches,the five (Sandler,James,Rock,Spade and Schneider) do little but sit in lawn chairs and talk,sometimes about their children,sometimes the death of their coach that has brought them together,even about Schneider’s bombshell daughter’s behind as she takes her time bent over her car’s radiator,trying to fix it. As the sun streams through the trees on them,you envy the five those rare times with no agenda.

The family bonding is equally informal,involving slides down water parks,swinging on a rope,even skimming a stone over the surface of a lake. There are no crises here,no emergencies that seem to routinely befall movie folks in the middle of a peaceful vacation.

The worst the friends encounter is a group of old competitors who they had beaten when they were 12 to win a city basketball championship,coached by the same man whose death they have come together to mourn. However,it isn’t an encounter involving men riding high on age-fuelled testosterone,just a mild face-off on a court in the middle of a fair. Rather than raring to take on the other side,Sandler and his friends try to extract themselves citing their family status.

Grown Ups does have its share of weaknesses. With so many characters,none gets a portrayal besides a few broad brush strokes. However,that may be in keeping with the general old-friend feel of the film – where everything that is to know is known about each other.

The film falls back on several clichés for laughs,including running jokes on weight (James) and height (Schneider). Bello routinely popping her shirt open to feed her 4-yr-old in public,a pregnant Rudolph and Schneider’s leggy daughters’ itsy-bitsy clothes hold up a few more running jokes. Hayek,on the other hand,despite being a designer with a fall line showing in Milan,who turns out everyday in formal black dresses with her hair straight down and her sunglasses firmly up for the relaxed weekend,is spared being made the butt of any joke. Perhaps the director was thankful she was just there.

However,while Hayek’s decision to accept this role,where she plays second fiddle to all the male stars,may be surprising,she probably isn’t regretting the move. Among Sandler’s collection of lightweight comedies,this film that he co-produced and co-scripted mucst count among the more effortless.