<p><em>Blended<br />English U(A) ¬¬<br />Director: Frank Coraci<br />Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Wendi-Mclendon Covey<br /><br /><br />Whatever happened to those days, where romantic comedies actually delivered humour.<br /><br /></em></p>.<p><em> Single parent themes have always been popular with American directors. Movies focusing on them have been made ad nauseam. <br /><br />And there has been a certain transcendence in them, from Atticus Finch, the even-handed father in To Kill a Mockingbird, who shows what it is to be both parents, to those precious moments in One Fine Day, where Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney whip up some great chemistry as single parents - Touchy subjects have been well translated into Black comedy.<br /><br />Sadly, Blended does none of this. <br /><br />Not very troublesome parenting issues, cloyingly sweet kids, inappropriate and unfunny jokes, incoherent sequence of events, absence of real world problems and adults in denial about their emotions. <br /><br />That is what the movie blends. <br /><br />one big pot of boredom and incredulity. <br /><br />A super extravagant African holiday and a cameo appearance by Dale Steyn do little to mitigate the combined effects of a shoddy script, lousy screenplay and witless direction.<br /><br /><br />Two single parents set up on a blind date end up hating each other. <br /><br />How that hatred blossoms into love forms the rest of the story. Jim Friedman (Adam Sandler) is ostensibly a Class A Jerk to Lauren Reynolds (Drew Barrymore). <br /><br />In reality, however, he is a loving father to his three girls and a great guy who teaches others' kids baseball. Big surprise. <br /><br />Barrymore, with a cheating ex-husband, is a doting mother to her kids and sacrifices everything for them. <br /><br />Unexpected encounters at the supermarket and trite coincidences ensure that they end up going on a holiday to the same place at the same time. <br /><br />Their five children between them, predictably play a huge role in bringing the two of them together.<br /><br />The lead actors are the only watchable elements in the movie, which is otherwise a complete hash. <br /><br />Both Sandler and Barrymore have proved their acting prowess in this one, showing how much they have matured as entertainers.<br /><br /> Brownie points to them for that. <br /><br />But the central idea is dry and the execution colourless. <br /><br />A movie that is easy to forget. Don't regret if you skip it.<br /></em></p>
<p><em>Blended<br />English U(A) ¬¬<br />Director: Frank Coraci<br />Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Wendi-Mclendon Covey<br /><br /><br />Whatever happened to those days, where romantic comedies actually delivered humour.<br /><br /></em></p>.<p><em> Single parent themes have always been popular with American directors. Movies focusing on them have been made ad nauseam. <br /><br />And there has been a certain transcendence in them, from Atticus Finch, the even-handed father in To Kill a Mockingbird, who shows what it is to be both parents, to those precious moments in One Fine Day, where Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney whip up some great chemistry as single parents - Touchy subjects have been well translated into Black comedy.<br /><br />Sadly, Blended does none of this. <br /><br />Not very troublesome parenting issues, cloyingly sweet kids, inappropriate and unfunny jokes, incoherent sequence of events, absence of real world problems and adults in denial about their emotions. <br /><br />That is what the movie blends. <br /><br />one big pot of boredom and incredulity. <br /><br />A super extravagant African holiday and a cameo appearance by Dale Steyn do little to mitigate the combined effects of a shoddy script, lousy screenplay and witless direction.<br /><br /><br />Two single parents set up on a blind date end up hating each other. <br /><br />How that hatred blossoms into love forms the rest of the story. Jim Friedman (Adam Sandler) is ostensibly a Class A Jerk to Lauren Reynolds (Drew Barrymore). <br /><br />In reality, however, he is a loving father to his three girls and a great guy who teaches others' kids baseball. Big surprise. <br /><br />Barrymore, with a cheating ex-husband, is a doting mother to her kids and sacrifices everything for them. <br /><br />Unexpected encounters at the supermarket and trite coincidences ensure that they end up going on a holiday to the same place at the same time. <br /><br />Their five children between them, predictably play a huge role in bringing the two of them together.<br /><br />The lead actors are the only watchable elements in the movie, which is otherwise a complete hash. <br /><br />Both Sandler and Barrymore have proved their acting prowess in this one, showing how much they have matured as entertainers.<br /><br /> Brownie points to them for that. <br /><br />But the central idea is dry and the execution colourless. <br /><br />A movie that is easy to forget. Don't regret if you skip it.<br /></em></p>
