5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.1 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Five friends and former teammates reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn't mean growing up.
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob SchneiderComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
BD-Live
movieIQ
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
No regrets when life's final buzzer sounds.
Grown Ups sets the stage for a great movie, and it yields only a passably decent final product. Lumping five of Hollywood's funniest
funny men into one film seemed like a formula for success, but Grown Ups does little more than follow formula in every area. There are
laughs aplenty, but with the laughs come an equal number of patently unfunny stabs at would-be classic humor. That contrast between good idea,
great cast, and successful film and mediocre execution, waste of top talent, and bland finished product is readily evident throughout Director Dennis
Dugan's (You Don't Mess with the Zohan) latest Comedy. Grown Ups isn't
a bad movie at all, but it's far from the heights it should and probably could have achieved. For every hit there's an equal miss, for every successful
scene that paints the characters as five real lifelong friends there's a countering dull joke of bland physical gag, and for every fun side character
there's one that's
underused or unnecessary. Grown Ups simply never finds the right balance for all its honest-to-goodness efforts to the contrary; everything is
in place for an instant classic, but just when it seems that Grown Ups is well on its way, it stumbles where it should excel, resulting in an
up-and-down sort of movie that's worth watching but that will leave its audiences wondering what might have been.
The Wild Bunch.
Grown Ups' high definition presentation is sturdy and accurate; the image appears reflective of the original HD video elements, but that means a flat, overblown appearance that captures a decidedly glossy texture that's short on intricate detailing and long on dull, dimensionless imagery. Indeed, the transfer eschews meticulous detailing throughout, with only the occasional glimpse of something more refined -- a tattered denim jacket, the textures on rocks -- peeking through the lifeless faces and clumpy backgrounds that are the norm. On the flip side, the image is incredibly vibrant; colors jump off the screen and contrast is boosted for that new-wave and now-standard Comedy look that pushes flesh tones towards a red shade. Whites often bloom and black crush is evident in several nighttime shots, but problematic banding, unsightly digital tinkering, heavy noise, and obvious blocking are nowhere to be found. Sony's Blu-ray presentation of Grown Ups is proficient and seemingly reflective of the source; that innate video look just doesn't do the film any favors.
Grown Ups features a fairly bland DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, but like the video transfer, Sony's audio presentation is hampered by the source, in this case a front-heavy and lifeless atmosphere that does little to engage the listener on any level. Bass is nonexistent and the surround speakers take most of the movie off. Only light atmospherics wiggle their way into the back speakers in support of creating a basic environment inside a church, outside in a waterpark, or around a serene woodland area. The score plays with an airy and spacious feel, and never does it seem confined to the front speakers but instead manages to extend beyond their range and the size of the listening area for what is probably the track's best attribute outside of dialogue. Indeed, dialogue is focused up the middle and consistently fresh and natural. The track does find some energy in the form of a few rock songs that intermittently show up over the movie, but otherwise, this one is the very definition of "bland." Sony's DTS track does all that's asked of it, and it works well with what it has, but there's nothing of note to be found in this soundtrack.
Grown Ups delivers several short and superfluous extras, headlined by an audio commentary track with Director Dennis Dugan. Dugan delivers a fairly dry but adequate commentary, sharing some good insights into the script, pointing out the identities of background characters, shooting alternative jokes and scenes, discussing the primary cast's ad-libbing of scenes, talking about the weather during the shoot, and plenty more. Laughing is Contagious (1080p, 4:08) is a compilation piece/glorified gag reel that features the cast and crew, yup, laughing on the set. Riff-O-Rama (1080p, 4:37) features the cast ad-libbing during an outdoor scene. Next is Dennis Dugan: Hands on Director (1080p, 4:38), a short piece that focuses on the qualities and skills Dugan brought to the film. The Lost Tapes of Norm MacDonald (1080p, 6:46) features a fifth-wheel (or in this case, sixth) character named "Geezer" and the actor who plays him talking about his experiences in working with the primary cast. The Cast of 'Grown Ups' (1080p, 7:08) highlights the work of the primary cast. Finally, Busey and the Monkey (1080p, 3:24) is a brief scene that stars Gary Busey and a monkey. Also included is BD-Live functionality; a collection of outtakes and deleted scenes (1080p, 10:15); a gag reel (1080p, 3:49); and 1080p trailers for The Other Guys, Salt, The Karate Kid (2010), Easy A, Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Eat Pray Love, Beastly, Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, Click, and 50 First Dates. This set also contains DVD and digital copies of the film.
Grown Ups fails to deliver on a good concept, but it does sport a quality ensemble cast that squeezes out just enough humor, heart, and believability in their relationship to make the movie worth a watch. Unfortunately, everything that exists around the periphery of the main cast -- bland secondary characters, forced humor, a choppy feel, a mediocre script, and an occasionally sluggish pace -- all drag the film down several notches. There's a much better movie somewhere in here, and both fans and the cast deserve something that's not quite as generic as this end product. Grown Ups' Blu-ray release is decent; the image and sound quality could use some maturing, but the included supplements are about what's expected of a midlevel Comedy, making this a disc that's worth a rent but nothing more.
Mastered in 4K
2013
2007
2011
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2015
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Enlarged Edition w/ Extended Cut
2011
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Unrated
2004
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Outrageous Edition
2013
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2010