#71 GROWN UPS 2

Directed by Dennis Dugan. With Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Taylor Lautner, Salma Hayek and Maria Bello.

Following on a few years after the first film, Grown Ups 2 follows our four all-grown up school boy chums on the last day of school for their children. Along the way they all learn valuable life lessons while breaking children's legs, assaulting and hospitalising teenagers and encouraging drunk driving, drug use, sexually assaulting a series of large breasted women, bathing in and drinking rain-deer urine and abusing the elderly all under a 12A certificate.

I think the biggest shock of this film isn't the fact it doesn't have a plot at all, or the fact that it stars talented actors like Salma Hayek and Maria Bello, it's the fact it credits three different writers for the screenplay. I have to say that again, it credits three different writers for the screenplay. I mean I know what writers do when they're writing screenplays, but seriously what the fuck did these three do? Did they take turns getting the coffees in or was one of them doing that all the time, if so, what were the other two doing, certainly not writing funny dialogue or good gags. I'm assuming they used three because they were hoping for the infinite number of monkeys school of writing but could only afford three? If so, those other monkeys were the lucky ones, not so the poor apes I saw this with.

All that said, there's still stuff you laugh at, not necessarily because it's funny but because you can't believe they've just done what they've done. Most of the humour comes from OTT violent slapstick and prat falls which are always funny, not so the attempts at witty dialogue or well written jokes. no sir, there's no room for that type of thing in an Adam Sandler film, he really does seem to be on a one-man crusade to see just how much shit he can throw at the screen before the American audience finally goes, 'No! No! No, Adam Sandler, enough is enough. And this is enough.'

Like watching a terrible car crash involving a coach load of clowns and circus freaks, you want to look away because you can't believe what you're seeing.

4/10