<p>Grandma's Boy </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A film review by Jason Pitt </p>
<p>For Critical-film.com </p>
<p> </p>
<p>First and foremost, I had no desire to see “Grandma's Boy”. The trailers were promoting a film which was apparently based around toilet humour, with the idea being, “Get high, and see what kind of strange scenarios we can create.” It's a formula that's completely stale, yet has never really provided much of a foundation upon which to build laughs. (The notable exception being last year's “Harold and Kumar”). After watching the movie, I've realized that it's not just built on stoner humour, it's nearly the entire body of the film. It's completely devoid of any kind of plot. The film runs on cruise control from one sequence to the next, non-stop, delivering gag after gag. That being said, I will admit that I enjoyed it much more than I should have, </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The idea of a stoner video game tester moving in with his Grandmother and her two roommates must seem like comedy gold on paper. To Hollywood execs that is, as I would never have touched this screenplay in a million years, let alone develop it with a star whose had nothing more serious than bit parts in Adam Sandler movies. Allen Covert proves that he is capable of being moderately funny on his own, without Sandler for backup. His work in “Grandma's Boy” is suiting to the material, it's obvious he will never be fit to carry a film. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The humour itself is difficult to explain. There wasn't as much gross out humour as I would have expected, which is certainly a positive aspect, as more films attempt to out-gross previous films, creating works which are heartless and unfunny. The reason why the humour in “Grandma's Boy” is so off-kilter is that the sequences which were so obviously the centerpieces of the script don't work, while smaller things like dialogue and video game geek caricatures are amusing and sometimes even laugh-out loud funny. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>That being said, the films antagonist (if you can rightfully use that term) J.P., a prodigy who developed his first game very early in life, comes across as a character inflated beyond the realm of the film. He is a geek taken to the furthest degree beyond believability. He holds conversations with himself, while speaking in a monotone robot voice. He also walks like a robot, complete with sound effects. It is so far beyond any other character in the film it becomes annoying, and is very rarely funny. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Films like this thrive in excess and exaggeration, which is why poor characterization, such as this, is forgivable. The film was obviously written relying on a few certain sequences, and cameo appearances, as Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon, and David Spade all have small roles. Few of these sequences work to their desired effect, which hurts the film as a whole, but feels much more rewarding when smaller jokes pay off. In comedy, restraint can be just as effective, if not more so, than taking humour to the extremes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Due to the Happy Madison production screen that precedes the film, “Grandma's Boy” has a small following already, as there's always demand for anything that Adam Sandler may put his name on. However, this film seldom resembles a typical warm-hearted Adam Sandler film, as the humour is cruder, and the dialogue is much more offensive. Many people will be turned off, yet others will find a certain charm in the films straightforward approach in attempting to create as many laughs as possible. I hate myself for saying it, but I laughed during “Grandma's Boy”, it certainly surpassed my expectations. Besides where else can you see a closing credits sequence which is super-imposed over a screen of the classic video game Galaga. That's right… no where. </p>
<p class="style1"> </p>
<p class="style1">This review was provided in HTML format, as your browser is not capable of displaying flash content. To experience Critical-Film.com the way it was meant to be seen, please download the flash player from <a href="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW">Macromedia</a>.</p>