Quick Review: Grown Ups

Can crude, juvenile humor merge with good clean family fun? That is the scenario of "Grown Ups," starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider as childhood friends who reunite at the funeral of their old basketball coach, and then spend the July 4th weekend together at a lake house with their families (except for Spade's character, who is single). The weekend is spent teaching the kids of the married couples lessons, and resolving the various problems of all of the adults. Some of it's stupid and predictable but with these co-stars, all of whom worked together at various times, including "Saturday Night Live," sometimes you can't help but laugh. Even at Rob Schneider. So, to answer my opening question: not exactly. The film veers more towards the family stuff, which neuters these comics to some extent. Still, it's a little better than Sandler's last film, "Funny People." My grade: B-minus.

Quick Review: Death At A Funeral

It will help your enjoyment of "Death at a Funeral" if you didn't see the original version, which came from Britain in 2007. Most likely you didn't, because according to Wikipedia it made only $8.5 million in its US release. However, I did, and this remake follows the plot almost exactly. The two sons of the deceased (Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence) are bickering on the day of the funeral, other family members are wacky, one woman's boyfriend (James Marsden) is given what is thought to be a Valium but is actually a hallucinogenic, more wacky hijinks ensue. (Note: nudity alert!) Oh, and there's a very short man who has pictures of himself with the deceased in compromising positions and wants to be paid off. He is played by Peter Dinklage, repeating his role in the original. Again, I believe you'll like it more than I did only because I saw it three years ago, and other than the American cast and setting (as well as some different jokes and a really crude moment involving diarrhea), nothing really changed. My grade: B.