Drew and Sandler Fall victim to a Lazy Screenplay
I love Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler together. While I am not much of a romantic comedy fan, as far as I’m concerned, the Wedding Singer is the absolute standard when it comes to rom-coms. When they teemed up again in 50 First Dates, I was again floored by the combination of their chemistry, as well as their comedic timing. I truly hoped to see that come through in Blended.
It starts off with a great premise. After a absolutely terrible blind date, single parents to multiple children Lauren (Drew Barrymore) and Jim (Adam Sandler) agree that they are not meant to be and that there will not be a second date. Fate has other things in mind and they both sign up for separate family vacations at the same luxury resort for an African safari. Of course, they wind up sharing the same suite, dealing with each other’s out of controls kids and regularly getting assaulted by various exotic animals.
I am pleased to say that Barrymore and Sandler still have that same fantastic chemistry that makes you know there is going to be a happy ending. Despite this great chemistry, the plot of the movie and the eventual happy ending is a bit of a let down.
As a single parent, I can tell you that the reason I date someone isn’t because he’d great for my kid. While that’s a deal breaker, it is only part of what I seek out in a partner. This movie treats single parents like they should simply choose the partner who is best with their children, regardless of how little they actually like that person.
The roles were underwritten for Sandler and Barrymore. In fact, the roles were flat, two dimensional stereotypes of men and women. She’s a nagging neat freak, pearl clutching professional closet organizer. He’s a dirty schlub who owns a sports store and can’t bear to hear the word ‘tampon.’
But there are some fantastic moments, like Terry Crews playing a resort singer who is far too interested in the couple getting together or a few of the cruder scenes involved animals.
Unfortunately, I really feel like the screenplay writer left far too much up to Barrymore and Sandler to carry this off. The laughs are there, I’ll give them that, but the dialog isn’t. Even though the chemistry is there, we don’t really feel the motivation for the couple getting together in the end, other than they’d make great step parents.
The dialog wasn’t there and them being forced to share a hotel suite was contrived. They just happened to show up at a hotel where the main idea there is helping blended families get to know each other? Really? Come on.
I can’t give this movie high rankings like I would have 50 First Dates or The Wedding Singer. Barrymore and Sandler still shine. The child actors involved weren’t half bad at all. But they were all let down by a poorly written script with poorly written characters. Watch the official trailer below.
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