Last night, Casey came to me and asked if she could go with a friend to see the movie Grown ups, which opens this weekend. I hadn’t formulated an opinion of the movie one way or the other, except to say, I was mildly curious as I like most of the stars in it. (Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Salma Hayek among others). Then I watched the trailer.
Full disclosure, this is not a professional review. But for me, in a word.. ugh. It seriously looks like the kind of movie where they put all the funny clips in the trailer and even these ‘best moments’ aren’t gut busting. Really – is the best these combined talents can come up with?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e01NVCveGkg[/youtube]
The premise is five guys reunite as adults for the funeral of their high school basketball coach and presumably, that is where the hi-jinks and hilarity begin. But all the jokes appear to be low hanging fruit. Cracks about breast feeding, peeing in pools, getting fat, marrying older women and of course, the obligatory cougar jokes.
I guess the thing that bothered me most of all was how these guys are allowed to “be boys” (jokes about breast feeding, peeing in pools, getting fat, marrying older women, the obligatory cougar jokes) but the Sex and the City 2 Girls were savaged for doing much of the same (being the girls, that is) as my buddy Rich so accurately noted on his site Remotepatrolled.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNMmm9xmEmE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
I have not seen SATC2 either (I don’t catch too many movies in the theatres) but I did see the trailer. The four strong women are facing a lot of the issues that maturing women face. Questioning whether “this is all there is”, stale marriage issues and the stresses of aging with some humor thrown in the mix. But no one can argue the issues the Fab Four grapple with are way more grown up than the embarrassment that comes with peeing in public pools.
And speaking of aging, well, uh, hello that’s what happens to us all – but that seemed a completely foreign concept to the Sex reviewers, many of whom took potshots at the gals’ looks. I’ll be shocked if even one of them mentions the lines on Adam Sandler’s face versus his Happy Gilmore days. And come on, while Kevin James has never been the slender sort, he’s now sporting a serious spare tire. Rob Schneider, (who I never thought was that funny) and David Spade look like they’ve seen better days. Yeah I went there. But as usual, the guys get a free pass…
If the four, beautifully coiffed SATC2 women were savaged in reviews, how do you think a movie about real women burping and prancing around onscreen with their muffin tops, would go over? Because THAT is real life! We burp AND struggle with muffin top. (If you’re not sure what muffin top is, look it up. It sucks)
This is not a movie review of SATC2 or Grown Ups even but more of a critical look at how aging men and women are portrayed in movies. I’ll be curious to hear what Casey thinks. She’ll probably laugh because she’s 13 and the sight of a four-year-old breast-feeding or a chubby guy crashing into a tree might tickle her fancy. But I hope by the time she comes of age, Hollywood and the people who review what it offers, will have grown up as well.
Do you think Hollywood gives post 40 women a fair shake? Were the SATC2 reviews fair? Will you see Grown Ups?
