Movie Review: GROWN UPS

I am sort of angry that I live in Massachusetts and it's 102 degrees. But if not for the heat, I would not have been convinced into paying money to see the newest dismally reviewed Adam Sandler movie Grown Ups. 90% of critics on movie site rottentomatoes.com gave the film a bad (to downright terrible) review - I however am in the minority.

I expected to hate this movie - and that probably helped as the expectations were set so low. When you go to an Adam Sandler movie, you're not going to see the next The Departed or Slumdog Millionaire. You're going to laugh. Grown Ups made me laugh - often and hard, and for that, it was fully worth the price of admission.

When a revered coach passes away, some of his former teammates gather with their families for the funeral. Their hi-jinx is the movie plain and simple - there's no deep plot, just a very successful laugh device of coming together in a small town by a lake. Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schnieder, David Spade, Maria Bello, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, and some old woman round out the funnier than expected cast.

I don't know how many people I've heard say the line "I don't trust critics." Well, critics are shooting themselves in the foot to hate on this movie. Critics may know how to review a movie, but they are so out of touch with mainstream audiences who don't see as many movies as they do. Yeah, it may not be a classic, but for 90 minutes, I was pleasantly entertained and kept cool by the air conditioning on this 102 degree day. People don't go to this type of movie because they are looking for brilliant direction or life applications - they go to laugh. Grown Ups will make you laugh - whether you're ashamed to admit it or not. If that's what you're looking for, this will do the trick. I would give this movie a 7 out of 10.