ADAM SANDLER GROWS UP IN GROWN UPS 2

year: 2013 cast: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Salma Hayek rating: ***

Well the plot's already been established when successful Hollywood guy Lenny, played by Adam Sandler, revisited his hometown, a woodsy hole-in-the-wall where his childhood friends – including Chris Rock’s Kurt, David Spade’s Marcus, and token fat guy Kevin James as Eric – still reside. It took more than half the original film for Lenny to get accustomed to the change of scenery till everything fit like an old shoe. And now, since he’s decided to stay put with his wife and kids, the shoe fits a lot more comfortably.

For a title like GROWN UPS there’s plenty of time centering on the kids, and yet it all connects. For instance Lenny, Marcus and Kurt’s troubled sons wind up partying with a group of college party animals at a rocky canyon lake. Not only is this location straight outta BREAKING AWAY, we have the local townies (i.e. our put-upon forty-something heroes) rediscovering their former hangout to the chagrin of the rich college jerks: all eventually squaring off in a massive rumble reminiscent of THE OUTSIDERS. But now we’re skipping ahead to the big party at Lenny’s pad where everyone winds up…

Most of the film consists of the ensemble juggling bad luck misadventures. The funniest scenes have all four pals (sans Rob Schnieder) together, trading barbs at each other’s expense. The duller moments center on the smaller children or wives trying too hard to be like their fathers and husbands, which isn’t entirely their fault: dumb toilet humor doesn’t always work unless, like Sandler and company, you were born to be perfectly brainless. That said, GROWN UPS 2 is a superior sequel (silly dreck compared to a train wreck), not adhering to any particular corny plot or theme – just good times basking in 1980's pop culture nostalgia and, despite a few dull scenes stretching flat punch lines with pointless side-characters, it’s a party that works despite itself.