BLENDED (1 OF 10) – Directed by Frank Coraci; written by Ivan Menchell, Clare Sera starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon, Terry Crews, Joel Mchale. Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, and language. In wide release; running time: 117 minutes.
Why? Why did we need another Adam Sandler / Drew Barrymore movie? I love The Wedding Singer. I liked 50 First Dates. This movie is as unnecessary and insipid as the marketing would leave you to believe. And just like Sandler’s other recent films (Grown Ups, Jack and Jill) it wastes the talents of genuinely funny and talented people, chief among them Adam Sandler himself.
Sandler films don’t have to be high art. I have watched too many times and quote from incessantly Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Waterboy. A movie can just be funny. “Blended” is not funny.
It is a script “written” seemingly by Mad Libs. Single father (Generic Adam Sandler character) has three daughters and doesn’t know how to handle them. Single mom (Generic Drew Barrymore character) has two rambunctious boys and doesn’t know how to deal with them. After being set up on a blind date by her business partner and his boss (who are also dating), where (adjective) hijinks and misunderstandings ensue, our odd couple hate each other.
But when the happy couple breaks their plans to spend a week in Africa together, Sandler and Barrymore each end up taking their friends’ tickets. And derp de derp, unexpectedly find themselves and their respective kids at an African resort at a week for blended families.
Derp de derp, more hijinks. He teaches her kid how to hit a baseball, she teaches his daughter how to dress like a girl, they fall in love, paint by numbers.
The truly tragic thing about all of this is that under all the schlock, there are elements of a good film here. As shown by their previous outings, Sandler and Barrymore have some chemistry, which shows through when Sandler isn’t doing his ignorant douchebag dude-bro manboy schtick.
And the supporting cast is really wasted. Wendi McLendon-Covey and Joel McHale both really try their best with the material. Even Terry Crews tries to sell this, but his schtick as a resort singer constantly singing a song about blended families gets old very quickly.
The element that gets most misused in this, though, are the young actors who make up Sandler’s and Barrymore’s families. This is especially true of young Alyvia Alyn Lind playing Sandler’s youngest daughter Lou. Her scenes are as adorable as Barrymore’s own childhood performance in ET. It’s too bad that they’re “blended” into such an otherwise terrible amalgam of a movie.
But this film is ultimately a lazy cashgrab, playing on nostalgia of a time when Sandler at least tried to make good films. Even if someone from your blended family tries to drag you to this, don’t do it– especially when there are so many other good films to see this Memorial Day Weekend. Instead, pop in your copy of “The Wedding Singer” or “Happy Gilmore” or your old cd of “They’re All Gonna Laugh At You” and remember better times.
1 out of 10