Copyright Source: FoxNews, 2019

Grown Ups is true to a routine Adam Sandler technique: a great storyline, always a hidden sentimental lesson to be learned, and soft slapstick humor to advance the story. 

Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler), Kurt Mckenzie (Chris Rock), Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James), Marcus Higgins (David Spade), and Rob Hilliard (Rob Schneider) are five friends who are brought together to their old hometown over 4th of July weekend to attend the funeral of their beloved middle school coach, Coach Buzzer. Coach always encouraged the boys and did good by them, so 30 years later, the friends gather for his funeral. Each friend has his/her own family equipped with his/her own issues except party animal, Marcus, who is still single.

Lenny is the most successful of the 5 as a big hot shot agent from Hollywood with the gorgeous designer wife, Roxanne, the ever sexy Salme Hayek. Together, they have 3 spoiled kids and a nanny that Lenny brings along from home but claims is a foreign exchange student studying for her exams. Eric claims to be the owner of lawn chair companies alongside wife, Sally, and their two children of which Sally still breastfeeds even at “48 months old”, a clear embarrassment to Eric. Kurt is a stay at home dad harassed by his live-in mother in law and belittled by his working pregnant wife. Then there is holistic hippie Rob, married to his 4th wife, Gloria, who is 30 years his senior. And Marcus is still single and ready to party it up anytime.

In the meantime, the group’s old school rivals challenge the 5 to a makeup basketball game they feel they lost unfairly. The game is played and Lenny purposely loses the winning shot to let his rival, Dickie, win the game. The friends all end the night with arrow roulette, a game they invented where an arrow is shot up in the sky and everyone runs for their lives.

The movie is hands down filled with typical slapsticks, light sarcasm, and calling the room. The humor is on point as are the insults between friends! The underlying vibe, of course, is that even though so many years have passed, the friendships have remained solid, and there was never any reason for pretense to begin with–that everyone accepts each other as their are without necessary effort. 

Grown Ups also has a special younger actor in it. The multi-talented Disney star, Cameron Boyce, played Keith Feder, Lenny’s middle son. He is adorable, very young, and just the perfect spoiled rich brat, which he portrays successfully. Cameron passed away recently at the age of 20 due to his epilepsy disease. Watching him in Grown ups and Grown ups 2 is bittersweet because one can see the potential this young man had without having had the opportunity to take full charge of his talent. He was vibrant and funny and just a great addition to the cast. Rest easy, Cameron. As Adam Sandler recently wrote: “Too Young. Too Sweet. Too Funny. Just the nicest, most talented, and most decent kid around.”