Review: That's My Boy

Review: That's My Boy

Happy Gilmore. Mr Deeds. The Wedding Singer. The Waterboy. Reign Over Me. Click. All fantastic movies starring Adam Sandler, be they rip roaring comedies or grounded, tearjerking displays of life after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Grown Ups. Jack and Jill. Just Go With It. I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry. All horrific movies starring Adam Sandler, be they about a sarcastic middle aged man attempting to cheat on his wife or the chief actor portraying male and female siblings to awful comedic effect.

So which category does That's My Boy sit in? Is it redemption for Sandler or yet another nail in the coffin of his comedic acting career?

It's with an incredibly disappointed and heavy heart that I say: unfortunately, it's the latter. What starts off as an amusing, satiric film about a schoolboy's rise to fame thanks to a shocking love affair with his teacher soon turns into a loud-mouthed farce as soon as Sandler makes his entrance.

 

He stars as Donny Berger, who at the age of 13 milked all the money, fame and glory that he could from the world after his sexual antics with a maths teacher were exposed to the public. 30 years later, Donny is a broke has-been, about to go to jail for tax evasion. Desperate for cash, he tracks down his son Todd (The Lonely Island's Andy Samberg), who has lied to everyone about his parentage and has even changed his name to avoid humiliation. 

They're estranged. "Hilarity" ensues. It really is that simple. "But Donny, you can't get drunk and embarrass me at my posh bachelor party!" says Todd. Donny gets drunk and embarrasses Todd at his posh bachelor party. Ha.

For despite Andy Samberg's eccentric and witty music videos, his role in That's My Boy is limited to the straight talking, reactive personality having to deal with all of Sandler's mishaps. He's like a nanny picking up the pieces of Sandler's childlike immaturity and trying to keep the film from falling apart. The role doesn't benefit him at all, and his performance is rather wooden as though he is simply trying to out-shout Sandler.

As for the former king of comedy himself, his ridiculous and unnecessary accent is enough to put anyone off to begin with, but with each time Adam Sandler appears on screen there can be felt a glimmer of sadness from any fan who once loved his 90's comedy classics. Happy Gilmore is as charmingly funny today as it was back in 1996, but unfortunately his character in That's My Boy is simply crude, as though the film itself is under the impression that farts and boozy drunken antics are enough to make a modern audience roll on the floor laughing. Or "ROFL". I can be modern too.

Yet, That's My Boy does have its moments where a little laugh is raised. Vanilla Ice has a pretty amusing, self deprecating cameo, whilst some of the 'crude' jokes I mentioned are very hit and miss, but when they hit they are guaranteed to make a receptive mind chuckle. There may be a semen joke that will make you roll your eyes but don't worry, there will be another semen joke along in a minute that might (just might) tickle your funny bone. The movie certainly gains momentum when it hits the halfway point of its 114 minute running time, with the plot actually becoming slightly more memorable and intricate. That said, it still doesn't quite hit the point where you'll leave feeling like your money has been well spent.

Summary

For those of us who know that Adam Sandler is capable of portraying so much more than a loud-mouthed jackass with a drinking problem, this is yet another twist of the knife. Many of the jokes are sick, the vast majority of the physical gags are eye rollingly repetitive and the fact that the film has to rely on these to raise any form of laughs simply emphasises its immaturity. Adam Sandler is drowning in a horrific reputation, and this time he decided to drag Andy Samberg down with him. That said, if audience members go into That's My Boy without any particular expectations for another Sandler comedy classic then they may - MAY - just get away without the urge to demand a refund. And that's at least a whole lot better than Jack and Jill.

3/10

See it if you liked: Grown Ups (2011), The Dilemna (2011), Just Go With It (2011)