Film: "Grown Ups 2"; Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello, Nick Swardson, Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows, Shaquille O'Neal and Alexander Ludwig; Director: Dennis Dugan; Rating: ***
"Grown Ups 2" is a loud, fluffy and mindlessly jerky comedy that captures a slice of joie-de-vivre in a small town with simple, yet, typically complex people. It's about friendship, family and party.
"Grown Ups 2" picks up where 2010's "Grown Ups" left. Set over the course of a single day, the film follows the lives of the four high school buddies, who have moved back to their Connecticut hometown and are well settled in their routine. This time around they are the ones learning lessons from their kids.
The very first scene, when Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) wakes up to find a deer in his bed room, sets the ball rolling as to what to expect. What follows are abundant sub-plots woven randomly.
Lenny is forced by his wife Roxanne (Salma Hayek) to encourage and build their children's confidence, by accepting whatever nonsense they speak. He is also put off by his wife's desire to have another child.
Kurt Mckenzie (Chris Rock) on his twentieth wedding anniversary presents his wife with a diamond necklace in a very unique fashion worth remembering and is thrilled that his wife forgot the occasion.
Marcus Higgins (David Spade) meets his son who was raised by his ex, at a railway station and can't get over the fact that his son is a delinquent. And Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is constantly trying to excel his "burpsnart", Burp-sneeze-fart.
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It's the last day of their children's school, the spirits are high. So the four friends decide to avoid work, their wives and kids and have a day to themselves but land up catching up with all and sundry in town, which leads to a climatic 1980's themed family party at Lenny's place.
For humour, there are nappy jokes, bald-men jokes, flatulence, urination, belching, vomiting, simulated defecation, abundant leering and jokes about manly women and feminine men. Not all are classic moments in cinema. But several, including the car-wash gag are worth a chuckle.
Though the production value is passable there are a few prosthetic and make-up issues that are not up to the mark, making the characters unbelievable and cartoonish.
As for the acting, Adam Sandler seems to lack energy and is wastefully unfunny. Salma Hayek does an earnest job, whereas the rest of the characters ham. But what the heck, it's not their fault. Director and his writers have lazily scripted the film causing some continuity and technical errors.
Over all "Grown Ups 2" is worth a watch if you have nothing better to do.