THAT'S MY BOY (2012) - Movie Review

Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, Vanilla Ice, Tony Orlando, Will Forte, Milo Ventimiglia, Susan Sarandon, James Caan
Genre: Comedy
Writer: David Caspe
Runtime: 116 min
Rated: R for crude sexual content throughout, nudity, pervasive language and some drug use
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

While still in his teens, Donny (Adam Sandler) fathered a son, Todd (Andy Samberg), and raised him as a single parent until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when an uninvited Donny suddenly shows up. Trying desperately to reconnect with his son, Donny is now forced to deal with the repercussions of his bad parenting skills. Co-starring Leighton Meester and featuring incredible cameos from a cavalcade of stars including Susan Sarandon, Vanilla Ice and James Caan.

Review:

"That's My Boy" is one of Adam Sandler's rare R-rated comedies, while most of his movies are usually PG-13. I have no idea whether or not R-rated Sandler is better than PG-13 Sandler. I try not too think too much about his flicks, as it may prove detrimental to one's health. I don't mean to disparage Sandler as a comedian, because I must admit I enjoy his brand of comedy as a sort of guilty pleasure. He's also proven himself quite brilliant at playing dramatic parts. But a movie like "That's My Boy" deserves to be nuked from existence.

The film revolves around Sandler's man-child Donny struggling to reconnect with his estranged son Todd, played by SNL alum Andy Samberg, who is about to get married. The boy was fathered by Donny while in his teens, and is the result of statutory rape, as Todd's mother was Donny's middle-school teacher (Eva Amurri) and is serving a 30-year sentence in prison. Who else but Sandler could make a joke out of statutory rape ?

I suppose I shouldn't go any further explaining the plot, because there are some twists that could constitute a spoiler, including the son's real name, which is self-explanatory as to why children should not father children. The movie slowly descends into a debauched spiral of chaos that assaults the audience with a slew of hard R-rated gags that would make "The Hangover" movies blush. No human orifice or bodily fluid is left untouched, and no subject is taboo.

The entire script is dumb and juvenile, and that wouldn't be so bad if it was actually funny. The movie obviously takes a page out of other better R-rated comedies like "The Hangover" or "Wedding Crashers". Sometimes several pages. But nothing ever comes across as funny. It's just cringey. At least the cast seems to be having fun, although that's not the same as saying they're funny, because they are mostly not. Sandler and Samberg are okay, although Sandler's Donny is overbearingly obnoxious and no matter how hard the movie tries, he does not become a sympathetic figure. Leighton Meester, Milo Ventimiglia, Will Forte, Nick Swardson and Rachel Dratch also contribute a barrage of dimwitted shenanigans, while Tony Orlando and James Caan have fun camoes, and Vanilla Ice is surprisingly not bad playing himself. Susan Sarandon's casting is probably the only clever gag in this movie.

What else could I possibly say about "That's My Boy" ? I imagine this movie does have an audience that enjoys crass humor, although you wouldn't know it from its resounding box-office bombing ($57.7 million worldwide against a $70 million budget). I assume Sandler's paycheck was almost half of the movie's budget, otherwise why would it cost so much ? Are bodily fluids that expensive ? All in all, Sandler's die-hard fans will probably enjoy it, but for everyone else, it's an overlong, tasteless, morally ugly and catastrophically unfunny trainwreck. There is no middle ground for this one. You either love it or loathe it.

SCORE: 4/10