Grandma's Boy

Ok here is my inaugural movie review. I won't be doing this for big movies that everyone will see. I will probably do it when I feel a movie has somehow gone unnoticed even though it is good. Occasionally I will talk about serious movies, but I like watching comedies, so that is where the majority will come from. Without further ado, I present the first review fromWide, Wide World of Sports'....Grandma's Boy.

Grandma's Boy was made by Happy Madison, the movie company run by Adam Sandler. It is also responsible for every Rob Schneider movie ever made. Grandma's Boy is a story about a 35 year-old video game tester named Alex. He lives with a roomate, but soon is evicted by landlord Rob Schneider, sporting a Russian accent. Alex pays his rent to his roomate, who in turn should be paying the landlord. Much to Alex's dismay, his roomate has been spending Alex's portion of the rent at a Thai massage parlor on massages and happy endings. This forces Alex to move out and find a new place to stay. His first option is his friend Jeff, a fellow game tester, albeit twenty years younger than Alex. Jeff, played by Nick Swardson, is HILARIOUS. Apparently Sandler saw this guy perform a stand-up special on Comedy Central and wanted him in the movie. He has a dry wit, is sarcastic and is perfect with his timing. He contributes a lot to any scene he is in. Jeff lives with his parents, and things don't go well during the sleepover, so eventually Alex ends up moving in with his Grandmother.

Alex works for a video game company testing games. He used to work in accounting, but quit to pursue this(I'm considering the change myself.) His office, if you can call it that, consists of mini-cubicles set up with televisions and game systems. There is also a lounge area with a huge t.v., and all the testers challenge each other to games. Alex is undefeated, and known as Grey Bush by his co-workers. Then there is J.P., boy genius in the movie who created one of the best games ever when he was 14. Now he is under pressure to replicate that success, although it is that success that makes him a social outcast. He dresses like he is in the Matrix, longs for the day he can have a surgery to give himself robotic legs, and even has an alter ego that sounds like a robot. The owner of this company is played by Kevin Nealon, who, while not at his best, still provides some good laughs as Mr. Cheezle.

Everyone is working on J.P.'s new game, and there is a deadline. Enter Samantha, a corporate exec brought in to oversee the final stages of the game's development(she's hot as hell, by the way). It is understood that most everyone working there is a virgin, so her appearance makes some waves. On the side, Alex is developing his own video game that nobody knows about. He also likes reefer. There is a lot of it in this movie, and we come to know his dealer, Dante. Both the actors who play Dante and Alex have been in pretty much every Adam Sandler movie to date, so you will be familiar with them. Dante is funny; he sells weed and uses his own product often. He has some good names for the weed he sells, based on what it does to you, such as Frankenstein and the Brown Bomber. He operates his business out of his basement with the help of an aborigine, a lion, a monkey, and a martial arts expert who doesn't speak English. The aborigine, Dr. Shakalu, imports animals from Africa for Dante to protect his business with.

Back to Grandma's house. Grandma is played by Ray Romano's mother from Everybody Loves Raymond. She lives with two other old gals, and after their fourth roomate dies, Alex moves in. He doesn't like doing all the chores they ask him to do, but when he comes home at nite and has the munchies, there isn't a better place in the world. Eventually the plot emerges, and J.P. tries to take credit for Alex's video game idea. Near the end there is a huge party at Grandma's House after they drink tea made from Alex's stash they found upstairs. The party is about 15 minutes straight of non-stop laughs, along with the best karyoke version of "Push It" by Salt & Peppa.

In the end, all is set right and Alex gets the girl. Grandma's Boy, as you can tell, isn't about the story or a plot. Its about the characters, and how they interact with each other and the rest of the world. Its almost like video game testers are another race of humans, like blacks or whites. They have their own way of doing things and their own set of rules. Alex by himself wouldn't make the movie, but surrounded by everyone else, he carries it through. There are also some side-characters who's name you may not know, but you recognize. J.P. is played by the skinny kid from Dodgeball. A fat kid named Barry, who appears in 40 Year Old Virgin, gets the most ass out of anyone in the movie. Other Sandler favorites pepper the rest of the movie, from Alex's original roomate all the way back up to Dante. And by the way, I love this movie's poster. It makes it seem like a classic comedy, although I don't think that is its destination judging by the two weeks it spent in the theatre. I do feel a rebirth for it on DVD. I know I will be buying it. This movie, and all movies like it, will be reviewed on the brand new Stoner Scale. Movies are rated on this scale from 1-5, 1 being Schwag and 5 being OOOOOWEEEEEES.....I give Grandma's Boy: