Grown UpsMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 30 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 Iffy for 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    For a while, the movie looks like "Couples Retreat" or a Tyler Perry house party, only instead of cookie-cutter conflicts, everyone just grows happier and more relaxed. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    In Sandler's movies, men don't cry; they urinate. So the scene in which the stars empty their bladders and change the color of a swimming pool's water might be the weepiest of the year. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    Despite the lazily self-satisfied results, his (Sandler) aging fan base likely will come along for the lackadaisical ride. Read full review

  • 50
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    A pleasant, genial, good-hearted, sometimes icky comedy that's like spending a weekend with well-meaning people you don't want to see again any time real soon. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Betsy Sharkey

    The new Adam Sandler comedy has all the charm of a home movie that does not star your own family, which means it's overly sentimental, filled with you-had-to-be-there moments, bad jokes and even worse camera angles. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety |

    Grown Ups delivers precious few laughs for the sheer volume of comedy talent on offer. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today |

    If Sandler hopes to win over new fans, he may want to cork the scatological humor and let it age a bit. Read full review

  • 25
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Grown Ups finds Sandler reverting to lunkheaded, lazy-laff form. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Amy Biancolli

    The film has some chuckles, if no belly laughs; it has some warmth, if no great heat. Read full review

  • 0
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    It doesn't get worse than Grown Ups, Adam Sandler's sloppy entry into this year's man-child-comedy sweepstakes. Lazy, mean-spirited, incoherent, infantile and, above all, witless. Read full review

View more reviews for Grown Ups on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 13+ Friendship comedy is too crude for younger kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that although this Adam Sandler/David Spade/Chris Rock comedy about old friends reuniting after a tragedy has lots of heart, that doesn't make up for the crude and repetitive jokes. And while the trailer might have you thinking the humor is all about kids and families, there's a lot of racy "guy" stuff here: Male buttocks are shown, and there are plenty of sexual innuendoes/references and instances of men ogling women. One character is depicted as a booze-loving lush, and though the main characters are ostensibly good friends, they're not particularly kind to one another (their kids also behave rudely, expecting to be waited on hand and foot and maligning anything that's not fancy or technologically advanced). Language includes "s--t" and "ass."
  • Families can talk about who this movie is targeted at. Is it intended to appeal to families?
  • The movie's sexual humor includes plenty of jokes about older women dating younger men. Does the film reinforce or undermine stereotypes on that topic? What about on other subjects?
  • What is the movie saying about kids' love of tech toys?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The movie explores the impact of middle age, depicting it as a time when people start coming to terms with who they are instead of who they thought they would be. Part of that realization process is that people still have time to change if they want to -- though some of the people who try get discouraged because it can be tough. The movie presents childhood as a time for imaginative play and adventure seeking, rather than texting or playing video games. Amid the broader messages are a fair number of potty-humor gags (peeing in the pool) and jokes based on issues like weight.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: The five main characters are extreme archetypes of middle-aged men. None of them has their act completely together, but some are worse off than others, and while some grow during the course of the film, others don’t. (That said, all are trying to do right by their families.) Their kids are shown acting up; in one family, they boss their nanny around via text message, expecting to be waited on. Affluent and entitled, these kids are put off by the rustic fun offered at a lake cabin and long for the technologies -- Wii, flat screens -- to which they’re accustomed. Female characters are thinly drawn and often the butt of jokes.
What to watch for
  • violence false1 Violence: Lots of slapstick humor, but no real violence. Friends play a game in which they shoot an arrow into the air and then run away, hoping to avoid it as it crashes down. Kids are shown playing a video game in which they shoot and kill other characters.
  • sex false3 Sex: One male character is seen from behind, naked from the waist down. Also lots of innuendo and suggestive dialogue/sexual references, but no on-screen sex. Several scenes show the male leads ogling scantily clad women's cleavage and behinds.
  • language false3 Language: “Ass” and “s--t” are used once or twice; other words include "dick," "damn," "crap," "hell," and "oh my God." A child’s ringtone includes the word “bi-atch.” Plenty of scenes include pseudo-curse-words like “shiz-nizzle.”
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: Many brands are mentioned by name and/or appear on screen, including Cadillac, Dunkin' Donuts, Wii, Voss water, and Budweiser. One character wears a KFC bucket on his head in several scenes.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Adults make jokes in front of children about “getting wasted" (the kids then start using this term, thinking it means something else). One adult character is buzzed or drunk most of the movie. He drinks shots and encourages others to join him and cradles a bottle of liquor.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

0.5

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Almost as funny as Benchwarmers. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Jen Yamato

1.5

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A five-way, PG-13 roast. Read full review See Dave Jen Yamato's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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