Grown Ups 2

As disposable and forgettable as its 2010 predecessor, Grown Ups 2 follows Adam Sandler’s Lenny Feder and his three best buddies (Kevin James’ Eric, Chris Rock’s Kurt, and David Spade’s Marcus) as they engage in a wide variety of fun-loving shenanigans over the course of one very long day. It’s almost remarkable just how unfunny Grown Ups 2 is on a scene-to-scene basis, with the film establishing its hopelessly misguided sense of humor right from the get-go. (The movie opens with a shockingly stupid sequence in which a fake-looking moose breaks into Lenny’s home and proceeds to run roughshod over the premises, right after urinating on both Lenny and his teenage son.) It’s worth noting, however, that the film, for the most part, never quite becomes the unwatchable mess that one might’ve anticipated, with the ample charisma of the various stars going a long way towards perpetuating the far-from-interminable atmosphere. There’s little doubt, as well, that Grown Ups 2 fares best in its freewheeling, let’s-all-have-fun stretches, as the lazy and second-rate plotting ensures that the movie palpably falters whenever it attempts to flesh out the characters (ie the lack of subtlety within Sandler, Fred Wolf, and Tim Herlihy’s screenplay is nothing short of astonishing). The inclusion of a few admittedly amusing sequences (eg James’ Eric encounters an all-male charity carwash crew comprised of past and present SNL regulars like Andy Samberg, Will Forte, and Taran Killam) buoys the viewer’s waning interest on a regular basis, although it’s hard to deny that the film fizzles out rather substantially once it arrives at its fairly endless third act (which transpires entirely at a wild party). It’s ultimately impossible to label Grown Ups 2 as anything more than a cynical cash-grab by Sandler and company, and it goes without saying that one’s opinion of the original is a surefire determination of one’s feelings towards this needless sequel.

** out of ****