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That's My Boy2012 | 116 min | R | 2.39:1
After the debacle of last holiday’s “Jack and Jill,” Adam Sandler officially hit bottom. After a decade softening his edge in romantic comedies and family pictures, Sandler returns to form with “That’s My Boy,” at least to a certain degree. While loaded with dud jokes and unnecessary gross-out material, the feature does return the star to a realm of cartwheeling, absurdist comedy he once churned out on a yearly basis. Now older and richer, it appears that Sandler is once again in the mood for some reckless fun, guiding this rare foray into R-rated monkey business, backed by a spirited cast of famous faces and a soundtrack of rock hits. I’m not suggesting “That’s My Boy” is a good film, but it certainly has highlights, returning some of the old goofball Sandman magic to the screen. 
As a young teen, Donny Berger (Adam Sandler) was seduced by his teacher, Ms. McGarricle (Eva Amurri Martino), resulting in an unexpected pregnancy and her incarceration. Decades later, Donny is hurting for money, threatened with jail time for evading taxes, clinging to what remains of his fame after exploiting himself throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. Learning his estranged son, Han Solo Berger (Andy Samberg), is doing well for himself in the business world despite crippling neuroses brought on by his permissive childhood, Donny decides to crash his boy’s wedding to Jamie (Leighton Meester). Shaken by the appearance, Han Solo, now Todd Peterson, tries to hide his biological association to the hard drinking Boston boy, out to convince the judgmental wedding party that Donny is just an old friend. Sniffing around for easy money, Donny instead finds a lot to love about his grown son, rekindling their lost relationship as the father attempts to loosen his kid up before he marries. After three movies under the guidance of director Dennis Dugan, I’m happy to report that Adam Sandler has located a new helmer to help shape his nonsense. Sean Anders steps behind the camera for “That’s My Boy,” and while there’s no drastic change in comedic tone to the feature, there’s a relaxed atmosphere of punchy mischief, with the production daringly stripping off the PG-13 chains that have served the star well. This is an R-rated endeavor, providing a hefty challenge of vulgarity the filmmakers are more than happy to engage, filling the effort with foul language, nudity, and some repellent visuals that younger Sandler fans will have to wait until home video to enjoy. While the antics are devotedly juvenile, the feel of “That’s My Boy” is decidedly adult, finding the comedian in a raunchy mood, successfully hosing off the gummy insincerity of “Jack and Jill.” 
Anders (2008’s “Sex Drive) doesn’t have a fresh vision for Sandler’s customary misbehavior, but he brings snappier timing to the material, making weak concepts for humor approachable, while nursing a handful of bellylaughs along the way, most concerning the awkward, nervous interplay between Donny and Todd, who have a lot of toxic feelings to sort through before they return to a stable familial relationship. The jokes aren’t original, but they’re sold here with a certain dimwit gusto, finding Sandler atypically eager to please buried under a thick accent and hockey hair. The disgusting asides are unwelcome (a person could go their whole life without seeing Meester lick dried semen off a wedding dress), but the rowdiness of “That’s My Boy” is entertaining, with Donny trying to give Todd a wedding weekend worth remembering, even starting a drunken riot during his bachelor party -- an event which requires the assistance of family friend Vanilla Ice, who’s amusing here, but only when he’s not trying so hard. Beyond Mr. Ice, there are plenty of celebrity supporting turns to devour, including Will Forte as Todd’s uptight co-worker, James Caan as a particularly brawny priest Todd uses to test his burgeoning badassery, Milo Ventimiglia as Jamie’s lunatic military brother, and Susan Sarandon as the elder Ms. McGarricle (and real-life mother to Amurri Martino). The best turn is reserved for Tony Orlando, here as Todd’s blowhard boss, showing sleazy charm in a rare big screen role. Sandler lackeys are also called into duty (including Nick Swardson), peppering the film with familiar faces and bizarre comedy chops, keeping the picture awake when it needs it the most. 
“That’s My Boy” reserves some time for sentimentality, playing up Donny’s lost father woes and Todd’s parental yearn, but Anders keeps the feature moving along to the next unsavory bit of business, including Donny’s masturbation preferences (spoiler alert: grandmothers) and a cameo by Todd Bridges, playing a coked-out Todd Bridges. The effort eventually runs out of steam, but not before introducing a bizarre plot twist to help Todd pick his path to happiness, giving “That’s My Boy” an interesting climatic curveball that recalls the delightful madness of Sandler’s early pictures. At the very least, the end of the film isn’t predictable. I wouldn’t dare recommend “That’s My Boy” to the average filmgoer. It’s reserved for Sandler fans who’ve come to expect a certain velocity of stupidity from their doofus king. It doesn’t satisfy in full, but after the humiliation of “Jack and Jill,” it’s refreshing to see Sandler back to the basics. Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Eva Amurri, Leighton Meester, James Caan, Milo Ventimiglia Director: Sean Anders » See full cast & crew |
 
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