That's My Boy

As Adam Sandler gets older, he's starting to resemble the former class clown at your high school reunion. You know the guy - The one who clings desperately to the same kind of jokes he made 20 years ago in school, and still thinks they're hilarious. Maybe you found him funny back then, but seeing him now, you kind of look at him with sadness. That's the feeling I get when I see Sandler desperately trying to hold onto his college frat boy humor as he pushes 50. It's unpleasant, and so is his newest movie, That's My Boy.

Once again, we have Sandler playing a man-child who speaks with a goofy voice and has no idea how to act in social situations, but due to forced manipulations, we're supposed to fall in love with him because, gosh-darn-it, he really is a nice guy at heart. It's a role he has played many times, with dwindling results each time. This time, he's Donny Berger, whose life peaked back in 1984 when he was in 13-years-old, and he had a sexual affair with a seductive young teacher. The teacher in 1984 is played by Eva Amurri Martino, who is the daughter of actress Susan Sarandon. In an interesting bit of stunt casting, Sarandon appears as the teacher during the present day scenes. Because of the affair, Donny became a tabloid sensation and somewhat of a minor celebrity, even getting his own made-for-TV movie. He also got a son when the teacher became pregnant, and he was ordered by a judge to look after it, while the teacher went to prison for 30 years.

Flash forward to the present, and we find Donny's life in shambles. His son is now grown up, and has chosen to essentially disown him. The son has even legally changed his name to Todd Peterson, which is probably a good idea, considering his birth name Donny gave him was Han Solo Berger. Todd is played by Andy Samberg, who recently left Saturday Night Live to pursue other projects. He's not off to a good start. Todd is essentially a human doormat, who is set to be engaged to the beautiful and wealthy Jamie (Leighton Meester), and is already being controlled and manipulated by both her and her family, who obviously don't think much of him. Todd, Jamie, and her family head for a beautiful summer home in Cape Cod to celebrate the upcoming wedding. Naturally, this is right around the time that Donny decides to return into his son's life.

Turns out Donny's deep in tax debt, and will go to prison in a few days if he doesn't pay it off. He essentially crashes the wedding weekend party, and instantly wins over all of the family, while making Donny look like a schmuck. He does this by doing things like having wild drinking and sex parties, being a general loudmouth, and having sexual fantasies about Jamie's sweet old grandmother. (This being an R-rated raunchy comedy, the fantasy becomes reality before too long.) You probably expect that during the course of the movie, Donny will learn to grow up, be respectful to his son, and maybe learn a lesson or two. You forget, this is an Adam Sandler movie. Sandler's characters seldom if ever change. Everyone else adapts to him. Yes, Donny and Todd do rekindle their relationship by the end, but it's only because Todd learns to be like his dad.

That's My Boy runs for roughly two hours, meaning it has plenty of time to throw in just about every reference you can think of regarding male and female sexual organs, as well as a lot of pointless cameos. Rapper Vanilla Ice shows up as himself (Donny and him were friends back in the day), and proves that when it comes to acting, he should have stopped after Cool as Ice. We also have James Caan playing a priest with an Irish accent that sounds as authentic as one you'd hear in a Lucky Charms commercial. We even get multiple references to vomit, semen, and dirty sex. Note, I said references, not jokes. The is a movie that thinks it's funny simply to be shocking. That's step one. A good raunchy comedy would have thought of something funny to do with this material.

You know, I really do like Adam Sandler, and have enjoyed some of his films. But, over the past few years, he seems to be seeking out some of the worst ideas and scripts that he can find. This can't be good for his career. His last couple films have underperformed or flat-out bombed, and I can't see this one turning the tide. Maybe it's time for Sandler to leave the high school humor behind, and grow up a little bit. It happens to the best of us.

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