Adam Sandler movies tend to be hit or miss for me – with the misses far outweighing the hits in recent years. But he’s definitely found a winning formula with Drew Barrymore. Blended isn’t as good as their previous joint offerings (50 First Dates, The Wedding Singer) but it’s still an amusing flick that the whole family can watch together without being terribly mortified, embarrassed or disgusted.
Sandler and Barrymore play Jim and Lauren, single parents who go on a disastrous first date (at Hooter’s) and don’t anticipate ever seeing each other again. Through a series of totally implausible events, Jim, Lauren and their kids end up sharing a luxurious vacation package to South Africa and, against all odds (not really), getting to know and like each other – a lot.
There are plenty of predictable, formulaic scenes and lots of cheesy dialogue, but it’s all delivered with a bit of a wink and a nod, which makes it a whole lot easier to swallow, and enjoy.
The kids are well cast and Terry Crews steals quite a few scenes as a hotel entertainer whose musical troupe pops up out of the blue in the midst of various family adventures.
Blended is PG-13, so it’s not for the very young kiddies. And it’s certainly not a must-see. But it doesn’t suck!
Arty Chick saw this one too (not quite dragged kicking and screaming, but close), so be sure to check the comments section for her two cents as well.
During the screening we saw, about half way though there was a fire alarm and the audience had to evacuate the building. I think I heard a collective sigh of relief as we exited the building, and about half the audience chose not to wait and see it if started again. The whole movie really felt like Adam Sandler called up some friends and said, “I want to go to South Africa. Let’s make a movie so I can write the trip off. No need for a real script, we’ll just wing it.” And they did. The whole thing is just ridiculous and not in the good way. It is a big SKIP IT from me.