The plot, which you kind of have to give it up for, has young Donny Berger, at age 15 (or thereabouts), impregnating his high school teacher. After the affair is exposed and the teacher (Eva Amurri Martino, "Californication") is sent to prison, Donny is left to raise the child on his own. Needless to say, this doesn't go well. Donny becomes a minor celebrity and his son becomes a basket case. Fast-forward 27 years. Donny has grown up to become an Adam Sandler character and his son has become an Andy Samberg character. They no longer have any contact with each other but, for screenplay reasons, Donny has to seek him out and force a reconciliation on, of course, the eve of Samberg's wedding.
Oh – and it also takes place in Massachusetts, so there are plenty of funny accents.
Throw into the mix the usual cast of characters – the horny grandmother, the overweight stripper, the stodgy father-in-law, the crazy military brother, the sweet fiancée, the list goes on – and you have the makings of a long series of increasingly crass, largely stereotypical, and generally pretty funny gags. The uptight best man plans the bachelor party at a men's spa, but Donny will have none of that! They need to go to a strip club! You'd think that schtick had been played out, but somehow first-time screenwriter, David Caspe (creator of TV's "Happy Endings") manages to make it work, largely through sheer audacity, a complete disregard for the boundaries of good taste, and an impressive array of supporting actors, including Will Forte, Tony Orlando, James Caan, Milo Ventimiglia, Leighton Meister, Vanilla Ice (really, Vanilla Ice!), and Colin Quinn, to name but a few. The whole movie is really just a series of tropes (did I mention that Samberg's character is also just about to get the promotion he's been working so hard for?) but they pretty much all pay off, so its somehow forgivable. With a cast like this, director Sean Anders ("Hot Tub Time Machine") probably had a devil of a time keeping his actors anywhere close to on script, but he was probably better off just standing back and letting the cameras roll anyhow. He has a keen eye for comedy, no doubt, and it comes though.
What works as a series of skits, though, does not necessary make a good movie. Recognizing that this is a very strange complaint for a movie like this, the inconsistency of the characters is actually distracting. Is Donny a crass moron, or is he a charming ladies-magnet? Is Jamie a sweet supportive fiancée, or is she a shrill black widow? To be sure, real people have many different facets to them, but this screenplay isn't trying to make some broader point about the nuances of human relationships so much as it is playing fast and loose with the characters in order to get the biggest laugh out of a given scene. Maybe the notion that a boor like Donny is irresistible to the ladies and that a seemingly pleasant woman like Jamie has to have a conniving agenda (and some very, very dark impulses) gives us a notion into Mr. Sandler's psyche, but the implications of that are probably best left unexplored.
Still, you don't go to an Adam Sandler movie expecting much other than laughs, and "That's My Boy" delivers plenty of them. You'll probably feel like showering afterwards, and you definitely don't want to see it on a first date (or a second or third – hell, wait until you've been married a while) but for most of the two-hour running time you'll laugh both at and with the actors.
| Movie title | That's My Boy |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2012 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | This typical Adam Sandler vehicle delivers the requisite laughs, but what works as a series of skits doesn't necessary make a good movie. |
