Grown Ups (Blu-ray) (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Trailer Deleted Scenes-several sets Outtakes-x3 Featurette-Dennis Dugan: Hands on Director Featurette-The Cast of 'Grown Ups' Trivia-Movie IQ track Audio Commentary-Director
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	102:20
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Dennis Dugan
Studio Distributor	Happy Madison Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Adam Sandler Kevin James Chris Rock David Spade Rob Schneider Salma Hayek
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$44.95	Music	Rupert Gregson-Williams

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Spanish DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Portuguese DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 French DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Portuguese French	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

     I'm a sucker for trashy Happy Madison movies. Happy Madison being Adam Sandler’s production company, which churns out one brainless slapstick low-brow comedy after another, all starring Sandler and/or one of his usually even more low brow buddies. Maybe in a few decades time, after some historical revision a-la Duck Soup, others will be too. In the meantime I'll happily take up any argument over the worth of the studio's cannon as most critics sit on ivory towers showering the $100 million man with bile. With that in mind, I certainly had a modest degree of understated excitement dwelling within me at the prospect of Sandler teaming up with David Spade, Rob Schneider, Kevin James and Chris Rock when I first heard about Grown Ups. Nor did it disappoint when Salma Hayek, Maria Bello and Maya Rudolph were lined up as several of their hotter-than-guys-like-that-would-ever-have wives. Plenty more Sandler pals who are usually good for a laugh pop up too (Norm McDonald, Steve Buscemi). Alas the finished product is closer to one fifth as funny as a solo outing from any of the stars rather than five times as funny - and I have only rounded up that far because I'm feeling generous.

     The basic premise is that five guys who were in the same championship-winning junior basketball team get back together, along with their families, to scatter the ashes of their recently deceased coach. Each overcomes some sort of neurosis about whom they've grown up into and realise the importance of family and friends. That beer-napkin summary is likely all the guys put together before they started filming what is essentially 5 guys hanging out and cracking wise to one another over not much for 100-odd minutes. If it was done well, and probably a lot less PG-rated, you could probably have gotten something worth watching out of that setup. Alas, the best on offer ranks a mediocre dad-joke and there is no genuine laugh in sight.

     The best that can be said about Grown Ups is that it is amiable, well intentioned and occasionally mildly amusing. More cynically, and probably more accurately, this is a lazy, though calculated, cash-grab by 5 comedians who didn't fancy getting a real job for the year and realised there was more money to be made selling out their image in the broadest possible vehicle than trying to create something to further earn that image.

Video

     The film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The video looks fine for the film it is, but far from anything to write home about. The image is reasonable sharp and free from grain, but a reasonable degree of edge enhancement and noise reduction is present and makes the image look a tad artificial. The colours are bold though a little too bright at times. There is reasonable shadow depth, although most of the "night" scenes are heavily blue-lit. There is no sign of compression artefacts of film artefacts in the video.

     English subtitles are present and they appear to be reasonably accurate and well timed.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The film features a choice of English, Spanish, Portuguese and French DTS HD MA The audio is clean, clear and well mixed. The dialogue is well placed in the mix and there is no sync issues save for a few obvious overdubs. The film features a by-the-numbers orchestral score from Rupert Gregson-Williams.

     The surrounds are used to modest effect, occasionally to aid on-screen gags. The subwoofer barely registers a rumble, although there is hardly a call for it.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The disc opens with 5 forced trailers which have to be skipped individually before the menu opens.

Audio Commentary with Director Dennis Duggan

     Director Dennis Duggan, who is probably himself Adam Sandler’s most frequent collaborator, offers an occasionally amusing commentary that overpraises everything and everyone, the whole time oblivious to just how awful the film is.

Gag Reel Featurette (3:49)

     On set pranks and line fluffs. Pass.

Outtakes & Deleted Scenes (10:18)

     10 deleted scenes & outtakes that are even less funny than the rest of the film. Ouch.

Laughing is Contagious Featurette (4:08)

     An outtakes/gag reel by any other name, alas both those names were taken by equally crap other featurettes. Pass.

Riff-O-Rama Featurette (4:37)

     Alternate/extended takes of the cast sitting around the lake talking each other up and tearing each other down.

Dennis Dugan: Hands on Director Featurette

     A shameless bit of EPK fluff hyping the director. Some of the on-set footage might crank someone's chain, but it is hard to imagine.

The Lost Tapes of Norm MacDonald Featurette (6:46)

     A few minutes of deleted scenes featuring a deleted character played by Norm McDonald (who does feature in a one-shot sight gag in the actual film). More material not good enough for a terrible film.

Busey and the Monkey Featurette (3:24)

     Gary Busey in a short, though amusing, deleted scene in which crazy old Gary Busey calls his agent, who happens to be Sandler’s character.

The Cast of 'Grown Ups' Featurette (7:08)

     Seven minutes of shameless praise for the cast. Pass.

Movie IQ

     An option to have Internet-sourced trivia and such displayed on screen throughout the film. An interesting gimmick, but still just a gimmick.

Blu-ray Live

     Access to the Sony BD Live portal, with no content specific to this film.

    The Region 4 and Region 1 editions of this release are identical.

     A broad, aimless ensemble comedy led by Adam Sandler and featuring David Spade, Rob Schneider, Kevin James and Chris Rock that despite its commercial success marks a true low point in the careers of all involved.

     Audio and video are fine. The extras are a case of quantity over quality, although in some cases more amusing than the film itself.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall