| Grown Ups 2 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Dennis Dugan |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Grown Ups by Adam Sandler Fred Wolf |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Tom Costain |
| Music by | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing[2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes[3] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[4] |
| Box office | $247 million[5] |
Grown Ups 2 is a 2013 Americancomedy film directed byDennis Dugan, written byAdam Sandler,Fred Wolf, andTim Herlihy, and produced by Sandler andJack Giarraputo. It serves as a sequel to the 2010 filmGrown Ups and features Sandler,Kevin James,Chris Rock,David Spade,Salma Hayek,Maya Rudolph,Maria Bello, and most of the cast members reprising their roles from the first film, alongsideNick Swardson, who joins the cast. Lenny (played by Sandler) moves his family back to his hometown, where he reunites with his old friends. Together, they face bizarre situations and new enemies in the form of a local fraternity.
Produced by Sandler's production companyHappy Madison Productions and distributed bySony Pictures Releasing through itsColumbia Pictures label,Grown Ups 2 was released on July 12, 2013. It was panned by critics but grossed $247 million on an $80 million budget. It was nominated for nineRazzies at the2014 Golden Raspberry Awards.
In 2013, three years after the events of thefirst film, Lenny Feder relocated his family to his hometown of Stanton, where his friends Eric Lamonsoff, Kurt McKenzie, and Marcus Higgins live. Lenny wakes up to find adeer in his bedroom, which wreaks havoc through the house until he uses his daughter Becky's stuffed animal named Mr. Gigglesworth to lure it outside, and it eventually tears Mr. Gigglesworth apart.
Lenny dismisses his wife Roxanne's suggestion that they have another child; Eric worries that his wife Sally is encouraging their children's self-confidence above all else; Kurt gives his wife Deanne a gift for their anniversary, which she has forgotten; and Marcus prepares to spend the summer with Braden, his unknown son from one of his previous relationships, but is intimidated by Braden, who deeply hates him.
Lenny commandeers his children's school bus from Nick, the unstable driver and also the brother of Rob Hillard, and takes everyone to their last day of school. He picks up Kurt and Eric and visitsK-Mart, where they are joined by Marcus, who has sent Braden to school. Kurt persuades Lenny to throw a party for the first day of summer, and the friends discuss Lenny's childhood bully, Tommy Cavanaugh. Police officers Fluzoo and Dante escort them to Becky's ballet recital at McDonough Elementary, where Lenny runs into Tommy, who openly threatens him.
As school ends, Kurt's daughter Charlotte agrees to go on a date, Lenny's younger son Keith struggles with his own bully Duffy, and Charlotte and Keith's older brothers Andre and Greg accompany Braden to an abandoned quarry, where they join a college party.
After humiliating their old rival Dickie at the Ice Cream House, Lenny, Eric, Kurt, and Marcus visit the same quarry, where they swam during their youth. There, they are confronted by a hostile college fraternity led by Milo and Andy, who force them to jump in naked from the highest point. Finding their fraternity house vandalized, the frat boys blame Lenny and his friends and swear revenge. Later, the friends take Marcus' van, vandalized by Braden, to Eric's auto body shop, and Marcus inadvertently rolls through town in a giant runaway construction tire.
Lenny learns that Keith is a gifted football kicker, but accidentally breaks his son's leg. Eric apologizes to Sally for avoiding her to spend time with his mother. Lenny becomes suspicious of Kyle's relationship with Roxanne, who is angered by her employee Penny's lifelong obsession with Lenny. Marcus bonds with Braden, Charlotte goes on her date, Andre passes hisdriving test overseen by Wiley, and Greg succeeds in asking out Nancy Arbuckle, a girl he has a crush on.
Roxanne tells Lenny that she is pregnant, and most of the town arrives for the Feders’ 1980s-themed party. Lenny realizes she is not having an affair with Kyle, who has repaired Becky's stuffed animal. He challenges Tommy to a fight, whotakes a dive to allow Lenny to look tough in front of his bullied son.
Soon after, the fraternity crashes the party, looking for the culprit of the frat house vandalism, to which Braden admits. When the fraternity members insult the townsfolk, a massive brawl breaks out between them. The partygoers eventually defeat the fraternity, with Andy getting attacked by the deer, thanks to Becky's tactic with her stuffed animal.
Afterward, Lenny, his friends, Nick, and Dickie enjoy a meal at Mrs. Lamonsoff's, reminiscing about their childhood together. Eric's mother reassures Lenny about his new baby, so he returns home to Roxanne and they reconcile, looking forward to their growing family.
The J. Geils Band membersPeter Wolf,Seth Justman,Magic Dick, andDanny Klein as well as the group's known tour membersDuke Levine and Tom Arey appear as the party band which is identified as Lenny's friends from the aforementioned group.
Filming ofGrown Ups 2 began on May 2, 2012, inSwampscott, Massachusetts, which portrayed the fictional town of Stanton, Connecticut, and ended on July 15, 2012.[8] Some scenes were filmed inSaugus, Massachusetts.Columbia Pictures andHappy Madison Productions distributed the film. The film was written byAdam Sandler,Fred Wolf andTim Herlihy and directed byDennis Dugan, Sandler's longtime collaborator.[9] The film was released on July 12, 2013, in the United States. It was released on August 9, 2013, in the United Kingdom.[10]Rob Schneider, who played Rob Hilliard in the first film, was unable to reprise his role, because of scheduling conflicts withRob, and because his wife Patricia was pregnant during production.[11]
This is the first film sequel thatAdam Sandler has starred in. It has a role played byWWEHall of FamerSteve Austin.[12] Stand-up comedianChris Hardwick confirmed a cameo as an ice cream vendor via hisFacebook page, but it was cut from the film.[13] The film features a cameo appearance by sportscasterMichael Kay and includesShaquille O'Neal as a cop.[14] In July 2012, it was announced thatArnold Schwarzenegger's son, Patrick, would be appearing as one of the frat brothers.[15]Oliver Cooper was offered a role as one of the fraternity brothers but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts.[16]
The first trailer for the film was released on April 2, 2013.[17] The film was released on July 12, 2013, in the United States.
Grown Ups 2 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 5, 2013 bySony Pictures Home Entertainment.[18]
Grown Ups 2 grossed $133.7 million in North America and $113.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $247 million, against a budget of $80 million.[5] It made a net profit of $48 million when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.[19]
In the U.S., the film earned $16.3 million on its opening day,Grown Ups 2 was released on July 12, 2013, alongsidePacific Rim.[20] and opened to number two in its first weekend, with $41.5 million, behindDespicable Me 2.[21] In its second weekend, the film dropped to number four, grossing $19.9 million.[22] In its third and fourth weekends, the film made $11.6 million and $7.9 million, respectively.[23]
OnRotten Tomatoes,Grown Ups 2 has an approval percentage of 8% based on 116 reviews and a rating of 3/10. The critics consensus reads: "While it's almost certainly the movie event of the year for filmgoers passionate about deer urine humor,Grown Ups 2 will bore, annoy, and disgust audiences of nearly every other persuasion."[24] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 19 out of 100 based on 28 critic reviews, meaning "overwhelming dislike".[25] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[26]
John DeFore ofThe Hollywood Reporter said, "Throughout, gags are cartoonishly broad and afforded so little time for setup and delivery we seem to be watching less a story than a catalog of tossed-out material."[27] Andrew Barker ofVariety said, "Among the slackest, laziest, least movie-like movies released by a major studio in the last decade, "Grown Ups 2" is perhaps the closest Hollywood has yet come to making "Ow, My Balls!" seem like a plausible future project."[28] Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "The temptation arises to say something nice about "Grown Ups 2" just because it doesn't cause injury. But no, it's a bad movie, just old-school bad, the kind that's merely lousy and not an occasion for migraines or night sweats."[29]
Linda Barnard of theToronto Star gave the film zero out of four stars, saying, "Adam Sandler scrapes the bottom of the barrel—and then he pukes into it—withGrown Ups 2, a lazily cribbed-together swamp of pointless and unfunny sketches that makes 2010’sGrown Ups look likeCitizen Kane."[30] Matt Patches ofTime Out New York gave the film one out of five stars, saying, "In the first five minutes, a deer walks into the star's bedroom and urinates on his face. It's all downhill from there."[31]
Rafer Guzman ofNewsday gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "For all its warm and fuzzy notions of family and community,Grown Ups 2... has a desperate reliance on nasty jokes about pee, poo and – with surprising frequency – gay panic."[32] Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly, who gave the film a B, said, "In certain ways,Grown Ups 2 marks a return to classically Sandlerian infantile anarchy."[33] Mark Olsen of theLos Angeles Times gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying, "Grown Ups 2 looks like it was a lot of fun to make. And the last laugh is on us."[34]
Elizabeth Weitzman of theNew York Daily News gave the film two out of five stars, saying, "Like most Adam Sandler movies, it’s exactly like most Adam Sandler movies... This movie stars all Sandler’s buddies and gleefully embraces lowbrow crudity even while promoting loving family values."[35] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a D−, saying, "Largely free of Sandler’s usual schmaltz and lame romance, it’s pure plotless, grotesque high jinks, bizarre and inept in a way that’s fascinating without ever being all that funny."[36] Nick Schager ofThe Village Voice gave the film a negative review, saying "A few decent one-liners notwithstanding, the movie comes off as willfully uninspired."[37]
Claudia Puig ofUSA Today gave the film one star out of four, saying, "Mystifyingly, the movie manages to emerge plot-free. Instead, it offers a succession of humorless gross-out gags, fat jokes, suggestive posturing, bullying, belches, and pratfalls. Life is simple – and gross – in Sandlerville."[38] Sara Stewart of theNew York Post gave the film half a star out of four, saying, "The movie lurches from one gross-out scene to another, flipping the bird at continuity and logic. It honestly seems as if Sandler and his team descended on a random suburb, halfheartedly improvising and moving on when they got bored."[39] Stephanie Merry ofThe Washington Post gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "Grown Ups 2 isn’t merely mindless. At times it seems to actually drain IQ points from its viewers while wasting a talented cast of "Saturday Night Live" alums, who are all capable of being much smarter and so much funnier."[40]
Andy Webster ofThe New York Times gave the film one out of five stars, saying, "This is pap, plain and simple: scattered raunch-lite devoid of emotional resonance. At best, it sells itself on the spectacle of a TV show’s cast reunion—and even then it disappoints. With the debacles ofThat's My Boy andJack and Jill, Mr. Sandler has increasingly squandered his comic capital. His onetimeSNL brethren do themselves few favors—beyond a paycheck—by working in his orbit."[41] Peter Keough ofThe Boston Globe gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying, "Apparently the world demanded another family-friendly version ofThe Hangover, one that combined scatological comedy with smarmy sentimentality."[42]
Connie Ogle of theMiami Herald gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "Nobody escapes untainted by the foul stench ofGrown Ups 2; it’s bad enough to make you look askance at Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, and Maya Rudolph, all of whom deserve a chance to do something funny other than pose as wives exuding various degrees of sexiness."[43]Richard Roeper gave the film one and a half stars, saying, "WhenTaylor Lautner is the funniest thing in a movie starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, we're in trouble."[44]
Randy Cordova ofThe Arizona Republic gave the film one out of five stars, saying, "In its own way, "Grown Ups 2" sets the bar really high. After all, it’s hard to imagine another comedy coming along this year that is this abrasive and free of laughs. It’s like everyone involved intentionally tried to create a horrible movie."[45] Alonso Duralde ofThe Wrap wrote, "Yes, it's time for another visit to the Adam Sandler Death-of-Cinema Fun Factory, the big-screen version of a terrible sitcom where laugh tracks are replaced by the co-stars chuckling at their own awful material."[46]
Adam Nayman ofThe Globe and Mail gave the film two out of four stars, saying, "None of the stars are trying very hard, and so the most memorable presences are the cameos: If nothing else,Grown Ups 2 will go down as the only film in history to find room for Steve Buscemi alongside "Stone Cold" Steve Austin."[47]
In 2014, comedians Tim Batt andGuy Montgomery watched the film every week for a full year for the first season of their podcast,The Worst Idea of All Time.[48]
The hosts of the Extended Clip podcast have recorded glowing reviews of the film in 2019 and 2023, leading the charge on a small critical re-evaluation of the film.[49]
| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Golden Raspberry Awards[50] | |||
| Worst Picture | Grown Ups 2 | Nominated | |
| Worst Director | Dennis Dugan | ||
| Worst Actor | Adam Sandler | ||
| Worst Supporting Actor | Taylor Lautner | ||
| Nick Swardson | |||
| Worst Supporting Actress | Salma Hayek | ||
| Worst Screenplay | Adam Sandler,Tim Herlihy andFred Wolf | ||
| Worst Screen Combo | The entire cast ofGrown Ups 2 | ||
| Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel | Grown Ups 2 | ||
| Kids' Choice Awards[51] | Favorite Movie Actor | Adam Sandler | Won |
Songs featured in the film:
Songs that only appeared in the trailer:
Maria Bello said in an interview, "People have talked about it and we've heard it might happen, but I don't know if there is a script, I don't know what there is. But I hope so because, boy, it's fun to work with those guys."[52] In January 2020, comedianTom Scharpling gained attention for uploading an unofficial and unaffiliatedGrown Ups 3 script, written in April 2019, toTwitter.[53][54][55]
