Blended (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have been reunited once again, to present us with a new romantic comedy. There’s no denying that these two star actors weren’t made to perform together, even if the movie itself might be filled with a predictable storyline and certain clichés. (Which isn’t all that bad.)
Jim (Adam Sandler) and Lauren (Drew Barrymore), both single parents, haven’t had a date since their teen years. Spending most of their adult live together with the same person has created a certain awkwardness when it comes to dating. For some reason, faith decided to put these two people together on a blind date, in a quality establishment with the name Hooters. Awkward convestations followed, rude comments were thrown and overall it seems like both of them weren’t made for each other. Needless to say, their first date turned out to be a disaster, where Jim used a lousy escape in order to run home, hoping he would never have to see Lauren again.
Jim lost his wife some time ago which left him with three daughters. Whilst he does his best, it’s clear that the girls are lacking a female touch to guide them. Lauren, who is recently divorced, has two sons, that are in need of a fatherly figure and overall a man to look up to. Both Jim and Lauren want to move on with their lives but either don’t know how, aren’t ready or haven’t met that special person yet. In the end it’s not only about them, but about their children as well.
Soon after their first encounter, Lauren and Jim, cross paths once again in the local store. Where Jim has to buy certain personal items for his daughter, whilst Lauren has to get her son a nudie magazine, to cover up the fact she has been on his room, while he asked for privacy. Lauren and Jim decide to help each other, in order to make sure they don’t buy the wrong goods. Again they leave, hoping they don’t see each other again.
As expected, faith brings them together again for a third time, which leads to a fourth encounter all the way in Africa. Jim’s boss, had to cancel his trip to Africa, on which he was about to embark with Lauren’s best friend. Both Jim and Laura, see a chance to go on this trip (on their own) to get away from their day to day lives. Unknowing they were going on a ‘blended’ vacation, they end up with each other again. For those who don’t know what a blended vacation is: it’s a vacation where stepfamily does its best to create one big family. Which is certainly a clear indication of certain clichés to follow.
Whilst this may seem as if the movie has a slow build-up, all the described events actually take place in a fairly rapid pace. Add the fact that he movie has a duration of roughly two hours, makes this movie a tad longer than most other movies in the genre. The flow of the movie seems to be just right, in order to keep things interesting, emotional and amusing.
Fans of Adam Sandler, will notice that the humor in the movie might be a bit less silly compared to his usual work. The humor is sometimes a bit more subtle, crude and at other times it’s cheesy at best. Some of the jokes are surprising, whilst others can be seen from miles away. Whilst it’s not annoying, some jokes tend to be not funny at all. The ‘African band’ that sings songs on their trip (yes, songs) is funny one or two times but the remaining five times, it proves to be more annoying than funny.
Blended is intended to be a family movie, that still has a decent amount of jokes in them and it ends up being quite decent at that. The locations of the movie also prove to be quite amusing and a bit different compared to the typical ‘hotel at the beach’ scenario.
Seeing the movie also involves a lot of acting that comes from child actors, it’s important that portray their roles quite convincingly. The daughters of Jim, Hilary (Bella Thorne), Espn (Emma Fuhrmann) and Lou (Alyvia Alyn Lind) play their roles a tad more convincingly than Lauren’s sons, Brandon (Braxton Beckham) and Tyler (Kyle Red Silverstein). It’s fun to say, that most of these child actors do an outstanding job and never really get on your nerves, as many others do. Other supporting roles get delivered by, Terry Crew, Shaquille O’Neill and others that you will certainly recognize if you have watched other Adam Sandler movies.
Blended is also packed with a decent amount of extra’s. Most will point themselves out, some actually prove to be quite amusing or interesting to learn more about certain aspects of the movie. Also, if you want to see Shaq goofing off, here’s your chance.
Conclusion
Blended presents us with a fun movie to watch from the beginning right down to until the credits start rolling. Whilst the humor proves to be of a ‘blended’ quality, the movie still succeeds in making you giggle and create an overall cheery atmosphere. Whilst it’s not the best movie in Adam Sandler’s repertoire, the movie is certainly worth a watch.
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