Movie Analysis Paper

Arianna

Instructor Name

English

11 November 2019

Movie Analysis: The Grown-Ups

Maturity is not the focal point if you want to understand the happenings in The Grown Ups. It is the story of five friends who are facing a variety of problems in their daily lives. When their old basketball coach dies, all of the friends unite at his funeral to shatter his ashes. They bond with their children, teaching them their childhood ways and re-live their childhood lives in the process. They do childish things like riding water slides and urinating in the pool, constantly abusing each other in the process. True, it may seem that the movie is only about vulgar comedy, but there is more about heart in the screenplay than it meets the eye. The protagonist in the movie, the character Lenny is facing a problem with his children as they are consumed by the lavish Beverly Hills Lifestyle. They play videogames all day, ignoring their father’s directives to play and act like normal kids. Lenny feels that he is failing to raise good and well-behaved kids, and his friends think the same way too. In the end, everyone benefits from their time together and manages to solve a lot of their household problems.

Some of these problems are reflected in the emptiness of Lenny's behavior with his kids. Not a long while into the movie, we observe that Lenny's youngest daughter, Becky tries to use the navigational system in the car as she is the first one in her home that answers the phone call that conveys the death of Lenny's basketball coach. When she asks her father about the way to heaven, it is secretly intended as a satire to all the rich fathers that fail to bond with their children, which often have detrimental effects on their children. Their lavish lifestyle overshadows the values that are often considered necessary for spiritual fulfillment in society.

But in some cases, the comedy goes too far as well. There are many things shown in the movie that we should best avoid in the real world. Take the example of one of Lenny's friends, Rob. He marries a much older woman, which is intended more as a source of hilarious and continuous comedy, rather than a real-life lesson. Their mismatched love life is a continuous comic struggle that leaves the audience rolling in their chairs. Another character, Marcus openly flirts with the two beautiful daughters of Rob, but he only does that to tease Rob, not intending any harm. Needless to say, such behavior is highly frowned upon in our society. Also, the inappropriate conduct of Lenny's eldest son is a kind of behavior that your parents might thrash you for, as such behavior is highly unsuitable for middle school teenagers. The same goes for the wives of all the friends that openly flirt with the well-toned fellow from Canada.

Another problem with the movie is the overall behavior of Lenny and his friends. They think that the only way to express affection for one another is by insulting one another. Aggressive jokes about "pooping" and "peeing" are frequently uttered, as it is often regarded as the hallmark of Adam Sandler's movies. Kurt’s mother-in-law is openly and repeatedly insulted. Such behavior is the reason that the movie has a PG 14+ rating.

To conclude the argument, this movie is all about traditional family values at its center. This movie celebrates family and friend ties encourage us to plan a get together with our friends and family to blow some steam. But there are times in the movie that can make you reconsider the desire to watch it with your kids and siblings. In one line, the movie has a mature lining but not as mature as we would like to hope.