Blended

There was a time when comedian Adam Sandler made some great comedies. One of my personal favourites of all time is Happy Gilmore. Since it came out, i must have seen it 6 times on tv. If you have not seen Big Daddy, i would recommend you watch this one. The perfect example how you should not raise a child. Over the years, Adam Sandler continued to release and make comedies, where many of them had the vulgar comedy style, that we all recognize. Somehow it seems that he will always be stuck in this genre, because comedy is something is knows, and knows how to handle. The first Grown Ups film had some fun moments, but then 3 years later came Grown Ups 2, and my view of Adam Sandler changed. This sequel was awful, where the comedy scenes felt forced, and there was almost nothing i felt like laughing too. Since Adam Sandler did a surprisingly good performance in The Wedding Singer with Drew Barrymore, could this duo bring back the magic once again on screen, or is this a desperate try to cash in at the box office ? 

Lauren Reynolds ( Drew Barrymore ) go on a blind date with Jim Friedman ( Adam Sandler ). But the blind date end in disaster, so Lauren leave as she regret going on this blind date. Jim lives alone with his daughters Hilary ( Bella Thorne ), Espn ( Emma Fuhrmann ) and Lou ( Alyvia Alyn Lind ), since their mother passed away in cancer. Jim try to do his best to make sure his daughters get all the help they need. Lauren have also kids, 2 sons, Brendan (Braxton Beckham) and Tyler (Kyle Red Silverstein). But since Laurens sons are very demanding, and take up so much time of her life, she is not happy with herself. Laurens best friend Jen ( Wendi McLendon-Covey ) is so in love with her boyfriend Dick ( Dan Patrick ). Jen tries to cheer up Lauren, but with not much luck. One day while picking up laundry, Lauren find a poster of an almost nude woman, with their babysitter Tracy´s ( Lauren Lapkus ) head placed on top of the models real head. Lauren is furious what her son Brendan have done, so she rip the poster in pieces. She realise that this might upset her son, so she decide to try and find the magazine in a store. There she meets Jim again, as he help her what magazine she should choose, he seems to know the nude section. Jen comes to see Lauren, telling her it is over between her and Dick, and it was planned they would go to Africa. Instead, Lauren convince Jen to let her and her 2 sons go to Africa. Jim hear about this also, and since Dick is the boss of the store Jim works in, he arrange so he and his daughters can also go to Africa. Lauren does not know about this, until they all arive to the same hotel. When these 2 families begin to spend time together, a new chapter of their lives have just begun.

To see Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore back together on screen since 50 First Dates, looks great on paper. Frank Coraci, director of The Wedding Singer is also back, to do a new film with the same team. The problem is, Blended feels very blend. There are a few scenes that are a little bit funny, but for almost 2 hours, this feels way drawn out. Adam Sandler is at least not all bad, remember his performance in Grown Ups 2? Blended tries to be a bit of everything, a romantic comedy and still throw in some dirty jokes. Remember last time Drew and Adam worked together on their second comedy together 50 First Dates ? It was not as good as The Wedding Singer, but still you could tell they had the chemistry together on screen. This time, they seem to just go on autopilot, doing what they are told to do, but without any emotions. Now, everything is not all bad. There are a few scenes where Drew and Adam at least give some performance. But the very few moments where this happen is not often, so we are left quite empty handed. The family problems that director Frank Coraci try to bring up, tries to make you feel like you care, when these situations feel way too simple. Blended is not one of the worst Adam Sandler films in recent years. But with so much potential that they could have used, with 2 good comedy actors, we are left with something that feels unfinished. If you liked seeing Drew and Adam on screen, watch The Wedding Singer again, or 50 First Dates, Blended is not what we hoped for.

Rating: DD