Grown Ups (film)

Grown Ups
Five adult men riding yellow inflatables on a big blue waterslide.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDennis Dugan
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTheo van de Sande
Edited byTom Costain
Music byRupert Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • June 25, 2010 (2010-06-25)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75 million[1]
Box office$272.2 million[1]

Grown Ups is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Adam Sandler and Fred Wolf, produced by Sandler and Jack Giarraputo, and starring Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and Maya Rudolph. The film tells the story of five lifelong friends who, after winning their junior high school basketball championship in 1978, reunite three decades later for a 4th of July weekend after learning about the sudden death of their former coach.

Produced by Sandler's Happy Madison Productions in association with Relativity Media, Grown Ups was released in the United States on June 25, 2010, by Columbia Pictures.[2] Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, it grossed $272.2 million and led to a sequel, Grown Ups 2, in 2013.

Plot

[edit]

In 1978, childhood friends Lenny Feder, Eric Lamonsoff, Kurt McKenzie, Marcus Higgins, and Rob Hilliard win their junior high basketball championship. They celebrate at a lake house with their coach Robert "Buzzer" Ferdinando.

Thirty-two years later, in 2010, Lenny is a wealthy and successful Hollywood talent agent, married to fashion designer Roxanne, and has three children: Greg, Keith, and Becky. Eric claims to co-own a lawn furniture company and has two children: Donna and Bean; his wife Sally still breastfeeds Bean. Kurt is a stay-at-home father and has two children: Andre and Charlotte; his wife, Deanne, is pregnant with their third child, and her mother Ronzoni lives with them. Marcus is a slacker and lothario. Rob is married to his much older fourth wife, Gloria.

When Buzzer dies, the five friends reunite for his funeral in their hometown with their families. Lenny rents a lake house in the same town for everyone to stay over Fourth of July weekend, though his family is leaving early to attend Roxanne's fashion show in Milan. He pushes his boys to play outside and runs into his childhood opponent Dickie, who claims Lenny's foot was out of bounds when he made the winning shot and has been obsessed with getting a rematch to rectify the perceived 'mistake'.

As the friends spread Buzzer's ashes, Rob breaks down over his failed marriages and reveals that he has invited his estranged daughters Jasmine, Amber, and Bridget to visit. The men play "arrow roulette", shooting an arrow straight into the air, and Rob wins by not running for cover, but the arrow impales his left foot, causing him to 'snap' at Gloria from the pain, who rushed to his aid with unconventional methods.

The next day, Lenny is thrilled to find the kids playing with cup-and-string telephones. Realizing the positive impact the weekend is having on their children, Roxanne tells Lenny to cancel their Milan trip and stay at the lake instead.

Everyone visits Water Wizz where Marcus flirts with Jasmine and Amber after buying them skimpy bikinis, and Eric teaches Bean to drink cow's milk. The families cause chaos throughout the park: the wives attract a bodybuilder, then jeer at his high-pitched Canadian accent; Rob assaults a slide attendant when he insults Bridget, and Eric ignores Donna's warning about a chemical in the pool that turns urine blue. At the zipline attraction, Lenny's group meets up with Dickie, accompanied by his son, his former teammates, and his friend Wiley, who is then severely injured after crashing into a shed while sliding down the zipline using his feet.

The next day, Rob attacks Marcus, mistakenly believing that he slept with Jasmine, and Marcus admits to feeling insecure compared to his happily married friends. Everyone comes clean about the state of their lives: Roxanne confronts Lenny for canceling their flight to Milan before they left home, and he explains he wanted their family to have a normal vacation and to rein in his children's disrespectful attitudes; Deanne confronts Kurt for spending time with the Feders' nanny Rita, but Kurt retaliates by pointing out how she under-appreciates him; Eric reveals that he was laid off from his job, and was showing off the whole time so the others wouldn't humiliate him; Rob admits what everybody already knows – that he wears a toupee. Gloria helps everyone reconcile, and Lenny and Kurt offer to help Eric start a new business.

On their last day at the lake house, Lenny and his friends agree to a rematch against Dickie, Robideaux, Muzby, Tardio, and Malcolm. The game culminates in Lenny and Greg facing Dickie and his son, but Lenny misses the game-deciding shot. As the families watch the Fourth of July fireworks, Lenny tells Roxanne that he let Dickie's family win to get him off his case and felt that his own family needed to know what losing feels like. A drunken Marcus plays another game of arrow roulette, and the crowd flees in panic. Trapped in a full-body cast, Wiley is struck in the foot by the arrow as he quotes that they beat them again before fainting.

Cast

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  • Adam Sandler as Lenny Feder, a Hollywood talent agent.
    • Michael Cavaleri as Young Lenny Feder
  • Kevin James as Eric Lamonsoff, a friend of Lenny and former worker at Branchville Lawn Furniture.
    • Andrew Bayard as Young Eric Lamonsoff
  • Chris Rock as Kurt McKenzie, a friend of Lenny who is a stay-at-home dad.
    • Jameel McGill as Young Kurt McKenzie
  • David Spade as Marcus Higgins, a friend of Lenny who is a slacker and lothario.
    • Kyle Brooks as Young Marcus Higgins
  • Rob Schneider as Rob Hilliard, a hippie friend of Lenny who has been through three marriages with women nicknamed "The Eater", "The Cheater", and "The Beater" and also wears a toupee that extends his hairstyle.
    • Joshua Matz as Young Rob Hilliard
  • Salma Hayek[a] as Roxanne Chase-Feder, a fashion designer and the wife of Lenny.
  • Maria Bello as Sally Lamonsoff, the wife of Eric.
  • Maya Rudolph as Deanne McKenzie, the wife of Kurt.
  • Joyce Van Patten as Gloria Noonan, an older woman who is Rob's fourth wife.
  • Ebony Jo-Ann as Mama Ronzoni, the mother of Deanne and the mother-in-law of Kurt who has a poor relationship with Kurt.
  • Di Quon as Rita, an Asian nanny who works for Lenny and Roxanne, and whom Lenny passes off as an exchange student in front of his friends.
  • Colin Quinn as Dickie Bailey, a restaurant chef at "Woodman's Eat in the Rough" who is Lenny's childhood rival.
    • Hunter Silva as Young Dickie Bailey
  • Steve Buscemi as Wiley, one of Dickie's friends.
  • Tim Meadows as Malcolm, one of Dickie's friends and former teammates who is a rival of Kurt. Meadows wore a bald cap for his role.
    • Christopher Borger as Young Malcolm
  • Madison Riley as Jasmine Hilliard, daughter of Rob from his first marriage.
  • Jamie Chung as Amber Hilliard, daughter of Rob from his second marriage and the half-sister of Jasmine.
  • Ashley Loren as Bridget Hilliard, daughter of Rob from his third marriage, and the half-sister of Jasmine and Amber.
  • Jake Goldberg as Greg Feder, the 13-year-old older son of Lenny and Roxanne.
  • Cameron Boyce as Keithie Feder, the 11-year-old younger son of Lenny and Roxanne and brother of Greg.
  • Alexys Nycole Sanchez as Becky Feder, the 5-year-old daughter of Lenny and Roxanne and younger sister of Greg and Keithie.
  • Ada-Nicole Sanger as Donna Lamonsoff, the 11-year-old daughter of Eric and Sally.
  • Frank Gingerich and Morgan Gingerich as Bean Lamonsoff, the 4-year-old son of Eric and Sally and younger brother of Donna who was originally breastfed his milk.
  • Nadji Jeter as Andre McKenzie, the 13-year-old son of Kurt and Deanne.
  • China Anne McClain as Charlotte McKenzie, the 11-year-old daughter of Kurt and Deanne and the sister of Andre.
  • Blake Clark as Robert "Buzzer" Ferdinando, the old basketball coach of Lenny, Eric, Kurt, Marcus, and Rob who dies years later.
  • Tim Herlihy as an unnamed pastor who presides over Buzzer's funeral.
  • Norm Macdonald as Geezer, a fisherman. Most of his scenes in the film, where he interacts with Lenny and one scene where he takes a liking to Bridget, were deleted.
  • Dan Patrick as Norby, a water park employee who is pushed down a water slide by Rob for hitting on Jasmine and Amber and insulting Bridget.
  • Jonathan Loughran as Robideaux, a cross-eyed man who is one of Dickie's friends and former teammates.
    • Connor Panzner as Young Robideaux
  • Kevin Grady as Muzby, one of Dickie's friends and former teammates.
    • Jeremy Waver as Young Muzby
  • Richie Minervini as Tardio, one of Dickie's friends and former teammates.
    • Daniel Cohen as Young Tardio
  • Jackie Titone Sandler as Jackie Tardio, the wife of Tardio.
  • Sadie Sandler as Sadie Tardio, the daughter of Tardio.
  • Sunny Sandler as Sunny Tardio, the daughter of Tardio
  • Dennis Dugan as a basketball referee
  • Lisa M. Francis as Dickie Bailey's Wife
  • Berkeley Holman as Dickie Bailey's Son
  • J.D. Donaruma as Marcus' Father
  • Alec Musser as Water Park Stud, a buff Canadian who speaks in a high voice.

Production

[edit]

Sandler, Rock, Schneider, and Spade met when they all joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in the 1990–1991 season; supporting cast members Colin Quinn, Rudolph, Tim Meadows, and Norm Macdonald have also been SNL cast members.

Filming commenced in Essex County, Massachusetts, in August 2009.[3] Chebacco Lake was used to portray the fictional Amoskeag Lake where the Earnshaw family's lake house setting was.[4] Woodman's of Essex was used for the restaurant "Woodman's Eat in the Rough.[5] Water Wizz was used as the filming location for the water park scene.[6][7]

Release

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Box office

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Grown Ups grossed $162 million in the United States and $110.2 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $272.2 million against a production budget of $75 million.[1] Grown Ups surpassed Click to become Sandler's highest-grossing film worldwide.[8] Happy with the gross, Adam Sandler showed his appreciation by buying brand-new Maserati sports cars for his four co-stars.[9]

Critical response

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On Rotten Tomatoes, Grown Ups has an approval percentage of 10% based on 172 reviews and a rating of 3.50 out of 10. The critics consensus reads: "Grown Ups' cast of comedy vets is amiable, but they're let down by flat direction and the scattershot, lowbrow humor of a stunted script."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 30 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

Connie Ogle of the Miami Herald referred to it as "the perfect poster child for this maddening summer of movie mediocrity."[13] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail criticized what he saw as blatant commercialism, saying the cast "lob[bed] gags they surely disdain at an audience they probably despise while reserving their own laughter for that off-camera dash all the way to the bank." Richard Roeper went as far as to say that it was "a blight upon the bright canvas of American cinema", and that he hated it.[14] Tom Long of the Detroit News called it "trite comedy" and "total garbage."[15] On the other end of the spectrum, Lisa Kennedy of the Denver Post called it "crude and decent-hearted" and "easy, breezy, predictable."[16]

Awards

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Rob Schneider was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor for the film, but lost to Jackson Rathbone for both The Last Airbender and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[citation needed]

The film won at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards for the "Best Line from a Movie" category, which it won for the line "I want to get chocolate wasted!", delivered by Becky, played by Alexys Nycole Sanchez.[17][citation needed]

Home media

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Grown Ups was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 9, 2010 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Music

[edit]

Songs featured in the film

Songs that appeared in the trailer:

Sequel

[edit]
Main article: Grown Ups 2

A sequel, titled Grown Ups 2, was released on July 12, 2013. Dennis Dugan, the director of the first film, returned as director. The main cast, including Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello and Steve Buscemi reprised their roles, except Rob Schneider. New cast includes Andy Samberg, Taylor Lautner and Patrick Schwarzenegger. The sequel follows Lenny Feder as he relocates his family back to the small town where he and his friends grew up.[18] Like its predecessor, Grown Ups 2 received very poor reviews[19] but was still a box office hit.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ Salma Hayek was credited as Salma Hayek Pinault in the end credits.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Grown Ups (2010) - Financial Information Archived June 21, 2023, at the Wayback Machine The Numbers
  2. ^ Tatiana Siegel (February 10, 2009). "Columbia pic gets Sandler and friends". Variety. Archived from the original on April 18, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Shanahan, Mark (May 18, 2009). "Adam Sandler et al. get to work on "Grown Ups"". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  4. ^ Kirkley, Eli (August 10, 2015). "4 Famous Movie Lakes and Their Actual Location". Lake Homes Realty Articles and Info - LakeHomes.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Carbone, Gina. "Adam Sandler film shoot prompts restaurant closure in Essex, Mass". seacoastonline.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Most Famous Water Park in Massachusetts". TripSavvy. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Waterhouse, Gail (July 4, 2013). "Water Wizz in Wareham rides Hollywood wave". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014. Not many family-run businesses can say they've been featured in a Hollywood film, but Water Wizz has been in two major motion pictures in four years. The first was Grown Ups, a 2010 movie produced by Adam Sandler.
  8. ^ "Adam Sandler Movie Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  9. ^ Bowman, Zach (November 11, 2010). "Adam Sandler gives the gift of Maserati to Grown Ups co-stars". Autoblog.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  10. ^ "Grown Ups". Rotten Tomatoes.
  11. ^ "Grown Ups". Metacritic.
  12. ^ "Home - Cinemascore". cinemascore.com.
  13. ^ Connie Ogle, Grown Ups (PG-13): Five goofballs and a funeral, Miami Herald (June 24, 2010).
  14. ^ Rick Groen (June 25, 2010). "Grown Ups: How low can they go? Just watch". Globe & Mail. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  15. ^ Tom Long, Review: Adam Sandler's 'Grown Ups' is a lazy, trite comedy Archived November 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Detroit News (June 25, 2010).
  16. ^ Lisa Kennedy (June 23, 2010). "Movie review: "Grown Ups" — or are they?". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  17. ^ "2011 MTV Movie Award Best Line from a Movie Acceptance Speech". Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  18. ^ "Grown Ups Sequel Planned". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  19. ^ "Grown Ups 2". Rotten Tomatoes. July 12, 2013. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  20. ^ "Grown Ups 2 (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
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