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That's My Boy (2012)
Adam Sandler again proves why he is the vice president of the "So Bad It's Good" school of filmmaking with That's My Boy, a 2012 comedy that is silly, pointless, predictable, raunchy, tasteless, and pretty much had me on the floor for the majority of the running time.
Sandler plays Donny, a goofball who had an affair with one of his teachers when he was a junior high school student and got her pregnant. Teach went to jail for 30 years and Donny's son, who he named Han Solo, grew up hating his father and changed his name to Todd (Andy Samberg). What happened to Donny when he was in school actually made him a rich celebrity but he squandered all that money and is now in trouble with the IRS. When he learns that his son is getting married, he sees this as an opportunity to avoid going to jail and repair the relationship with the son that hates him.
Director Sean Anders (Daddy's Home) and screenwriter David have mounted an often ridiculous story on such a large and inviting canvass that the audience will find themselves amused in spite of themselves. The strained father/son relationship is a story that is always ripe for re-visiting and the novelty of a teenage father gave this story an extra push at the beginning that grabs the viewer's attention and really makes us want to see father and son work things out.
It takes a minute to get going and I must confess there was a point early on where I came very close to turning it off, but by the time we got to the memorable bachelor party, I was completely invested in the insanity and watched this twisted father/son relationship take one step forward and two steps back for the rest of this often hard to swallow story.
Honestly, Sandler's Donny is not much different than a lot of characters he's played in the past but this guy is a dad, kind of foreign territory for the man/child we have grown to love over the years and he works extremely well with Samberg, who garners just as many laughs as Sandler does.
Most of the Sandler rep company is on hand (except Steve Buscemi) and, as always with a Sandler comedy, there is some nutty stunt casting, like Tony Orlando as Samberg's boss, James Caan as a priest with anger issues, and Vanilla Ice playing himself. I also loved that the teacher/mom who began the story was played by Susan Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, at the beginning of the film and then played by Sarandon near the end of the story. Kudos as well to Milo Ventimiglia from This is Us playing Todd's psycho future brother-in-law. Oh, and Peggy Stewart seems to have taken over as the resident little old lady with the potty mouth since the passing of Ellen Albertini Dow. The trip to the requisite happy ending is a little longer than necessary, but I consistently laughed in spite of myself.
Adam Sandler again proves why he is the vice president of the "So Bad It's Good" school of filmmaking with That's My Boy, a 2012 comedy that is silly, pointless, predictable, raunchy, tasteless, and pretty much had me on the floor for the majority of the running time.
Sandler plays Donny, a goofball who had an affair with one of his teachers when he was a junior high school student and got her pregnant. Teach went to jail for 30 years and Donny's son, who he named Han Solo, grew up hating his father and changed his name to Todd (Andy Samberg). What happened to Donny when he was in school actually made him a rich celebrity but he squandered all that money and is now in trouble with the IRS. When he learns that his son is getting married, he sees this as an opportunity to avoid going to jail and repair the relationship with the son that hates him.
Director Sean Anders (Daddy's Home) and screenwriter David have mounted an often ridiculous story on such a large and inviting canvass that the audience will find themselves amused in spite of themselves. The strained father/son relationship is a story that is always ripe for re-visiting and the novelty of a teenage father gave this story an extra push at the beginning that grabs the viewer's attention and really makes us want to see father and son work things out.
It takes a minute to get going and I must confess there was a point early on where I came very close to turning it off, but by the time we got to the memorable bachelor party, I was completely invested in the insanity and watched this twisted father/son relationship take one step forward and two steps back for the rest of this often hard to swallow story.
Honestly, Sandler's Donny is not much different than a lot of characters he's played in the past but this guy is a dad, kind of foreign territory for the man/child we have grown to love over the years and he works extremely well with Samberg, who garners just as many laughs as Sandler does.
Most of the Sandler rep company is on hand (except Steve Buscemi) and, as always with a Sandler comedy, there is some nutty stunt casting, like Tony Orlando as Samberg's boss, James Caan as a priest with anger issues, and Vanilla Ice playing himself. I also loved that the teacher/mom who began the story was played by Susan Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, at the beginning of the film and then played by Sarandon near the end of the story. Kudos as well to Milo Ventimiglia from This is Us playing Todd's psycho future brother-in-law. Oh, and Peggy Stewart seems to have taken over as the resident little old lady with the potty mouth since the passing of Ellen Albertini Dow. The trip to the requisite happy ending is a little longer than necessary, but I consistently laughed in spite of myself.