Perfect cast and a good story

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

That title right there is not talking about your laughing, more the actors. This movie definitely is funny a good portion of the time, the rest time it is cringe inducing. 90% of the movie is the actors laughing. It's like the script said "Tell joke *laughs*, (next scene) say something that we can't understand cause everyone is talking *laugh*." In conclusion, Grown Ups is a decent comedy.

I watch this film 5 times everyday, Even in the shower! I just love how lovable and silly the main characters are. My personal favourite is Marcus, I have honestly never related to a character so much in my life. This movie tackles the issues of family, love, friendship and humour and does a perfect job of just wrapping it all together into one magical gift from god. Although the little graphic violence that is shown scares me a little bit I just close my eyes and go to my happy place (which is the location where this was filmed) I would choose to see this over Forrest Gump any day.

I tried to watch this movie because of the cast whom I like for the most part. (Not fond of Chris Rock or Kevin James, but they're all right) At first I thought it was Hot Tub Time Machine then I thought maybe it would be like it. That movie that was at least interesting and funny. I watched it up until the moment when they're talking about leaving and going to Milan and then I had to stop and find something else to watch...it was very sad. Just an exploration in excess.

This movie isn't as bad as the 1-star reviews might lead you to believe, nor is it as "outrageous and hysterical" as the back of the DVD box says. Overall I'd have to grade it as Mrs. Milner graded me 4th grade: "Hasn't worked up to potential," which isn't necessarily a bad grade, but it was enough to get me a sound thrashing when I got home."Grown Ups" was a great idea on paper and even on the set. Get the funniest wisecrackers you can find, put a camera on them, and tell them to cut each other to ribbons. In the DVD bonus features, the director says this is his vacation film, because he just gets to sit back and let the (largely unscripted/improvised) story build itself.There are some good zingers, a few scenes that made me LOL, and even some subtle depth to the story (best friends harboring secret, or not-so-secret, resentment toward eath other), but something doesn't quite pull together, and here's my theory. I think the problem happened in the editing room.If you see this movie, tell me if you agree. After each zinger is uttered, there's always a quick cut to someone's reaction (laughing), in comedy terms, adding a "beat". The problem is this slows down the rapid fire humor, and make no mistake, these comedians are on their game. If you watch the outtakes, you'll see when the camera is left untouched, no cuts, their banter volleys back and forth much more naturally. But the way the film is edited, there's that dang beat which puts a stop after each punchline, almost as if awaiting audience approval before moving on.Another problem is I think some of the funny gags were cut while some of the not-so-funny gags were beat to death. Examples: in the deleted scenes, Maya Rudolph ad libs a line that had me howling "If I knew we were going to the Golden Globes I would've waxed my back door." This quippy zinger didn't make it into the film. Instead, there's a running gag that they chose to dwell on for 4 or 5 jokes, actually a disturbing bit about one of the guys having to cut his dog's vocal cords because the neighbors complained about the barking, and the guys keep returning to jokes about how weird the dog's bark sounds, a recurring gag throughout the movie. (Ok I admit the 1st joke was funny, where David Spade says "Your dog sounds like Steven Hawking"), but after that it just got upsetting. Again, this problem goes back to the editing room, as obviously someone thought the dog gag was a winner, so they pieced together as many lukewarm dog jokes they could find on the footage.The editing room is also where, inexplicably, the ENTIRE character of Norm Macdonald met his demise. Norm, who played the character "Geezer" is gone completely (except in one lightning fast scene at the Water Park, he's the guy who gets off the slide with an atomic wedgie). Also littering the editing room floor is Gary Busey and his monkey, another bit that was completely vaporized, about an off-balance Gary Busey (playing himself, big stetch haha) cellphone stalking Adam Sandler and complaining about a monkey he's forced to live with on a reality show. Again, if you watch the deleted scenes, you realize there was no shortage of funny material. It was just put together wrong. I really think that stupid extra beat killed the pacing. Contrast this against a comedy like "Airplane" or "Spinal Tap" where there's no pause after each punchline. You might even miss it because they're already onto the next gag. I would love to see a re-edit of this film with that sort of snappy, subtle pacing.