That's My Boy Blu-ray delivers stunningly beautiful video and superb audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
While still in his teens, Donny fathered a son, Todd, and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd’s world comes crashing down on the eve of his wedding when an uninvited Donny suddenly shows up. Trying desperately to reconnect with his son, Donny is now forced to deal with the repercussions of his bad parenting skills.
That's My Boy is basically a Comedy about inappropriate sex. It doesn't quite sound like the usual Adam Sandler premise, but the comedian
who has been on a sharp decline actually makes it work...sort of. That's My Boy never really finds a stride. It's more like a series of vignettes
loosely tied together by a few plot strings than it is a dramatically involved and ever-evolving movie, but it works on a superficial level, throwing out a
fairly steady barrage of halfway funny verbal jokes, physical gags, and visual crudeness that all manage to make for a passable adults-only Comedy.
That's not even to mention that it's Sandler's best movie since Grown Ups, faint praise to be sure and not exactly anything to brag
about when the competition is junk-level fare like Just Go With It and Jack and Jill. That's My Boy does satisfy in its own right as a
raunchy little escapist movie with bad taste but a good lead cast and several high profile stars and personalities lending their talents to the film and
making it a wee bit
better than it otherwise probably would have been.
There's trouble coming.
Donny (Justin Weaver) considers himself the luckiest schoolchild on the face of the Earth. His advances towards his super-sexy teacher Mary (Eva
Amurri Martino) have paid off. They're locked in a hot and very illegal love affair. Unfortunately for the happy couple, they're caught
mid-act in front of the entire school. Though the relationship is consensual, a pregnant Mary is sentenced to thirty years behind bars. Donny
becomes a media sensation and falls into a whole lot of money. Fast forward a couple of decades. Mary's still in prison, Donny (Adam Sandler) is
broke, and his son Han Solo, now going by the name "Todd" (Andy Samberg), is a well-to-do hedge fund manager and engaged to a beautiful young
woman named Jamie (Leighton Meester). Donny's on his way to jail if he can't cough up more than forty large in back taxes. He's approached by a
sleazy television personality (radio's Dan Patrick) with an offer of big bucks in exchange for the right to film and broadcast Danny's reunion with Todd
and father and son's reunion with the imprisoned Mary. Donny surprises Todd with his unannounced arrival, complicating Todd's backstory that his
parents were killed in an
explosion; he's too embarrassed to admit that he's the product of statutory rape, and a somewhat understanding Donny plays along in the role of a
long-lost friend. As Donny and Todd reunite over the
course of several days, the two of them find themselves closer to one another, to hard truths, and to other people in what becomes a time of
debauchery
and terrible revelations with far-reaching consequences for all involved.
That's My Boy could be a porno movie if the setup, themes, and general story line were retained, the X-rated stuff amped up, and the
characterization dumbed down. The movie takes some of the raunchiest and most absurd and, in some cases, most realistic sex scenarios
and
meshes them all together into a single, crazy movie with enough sex partners, bare breasts, semen, vomit, and crude humor to make grandma
blush,
unless she's in on the act, which she most certainly is here. The film doesn't necessarily celebrate all of these things -- the consequences are far too
disastrous, though certainly somewhat humorous, for that -- but it does celebrate the absurdity that is the result, absurdity in the form of crazy sex,
odd family
relationships, culture and class clashes, and pretty much anything and everything Sandler and Writer David Caspe (TV's Happy Endings)
could cram
into a
script that produces an overly long two-hour marathon Comedy. Fortunately, most of it works well enough, at least comparatively considering the
crud that Sandler's thrown out onto the screen in the past couple of years. That's My Boy isn't a return to the actor's glory days of Happy Gilmore and Mr. Deeds, but it's a serviceably entertaining R-rated Comedy that
dabbles in some pretty terrible things but manages to make most of them rather funny, thanks in large part to Sandler and Samberg's faultless
chemistry.
Indeed, the Sandler-Samberg pairing doesn't just sound good coming off the tongue, it works quite well -- magical, almost -- up on the screen. The
two seem to understand one another and, more importantly, their characters quite well. The dynamic is heightened by an acute sense of awareness
and foreknowledge of various surprises that are gradually introduced into the plot and that shape the characters later on. They truly seem to inhabit
their characters and have mastered a total understanding of the backstories -- their backstories together and in the years that followed their
separation -- that heighten
the movie and not only improve their interpersonal dynamics but also shape their relationships with other characters and influence the effects of
various external
revelations through the course of the movie. They also compliment one another nicely in the comedy department, too; they feed off of one
another's skill sets and together heighten the humor considerably. The film also features some memorable cameos from Sportscaster Dan Patrick,
Actress Susan
Sarandon, New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan, and Rapper Vanilla Ice, the latter of whom turns in a smooth, satisfying performance as Donny's old
chum. Ice plays a washed-up version of himself frying chicken nuggets at a local eatery.
That's My Boy arrives on Blu-ray with a brilliant 1080p high definition transfer. This is one of those that's very easy to review. There are no
flaws of which to speak. The high definition video source delivers a crisp, perfectly defined image. Clarity is striking in every scene, from start to finish
and under any lighting condition. The image offers fabulous details across the board. Skin and clothing textures dazzle, as does every surrounding
element, whether in well-lit exteriors or the low lights of the strip club. Colors are vibrant and accurate, from the brightest primaries to the dimmest
earthen tones. Black levels are accurate and flesh tones are true. Banding, blocking, noise, and the like are nonexistent. This is a pristine, visually
arresting transfer from Sony.
That's My Boy's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is nearly every bit as good as the accompanying video transfer. To be sure, this is not a
robust, highly active, action-packed sort of listen, but natural clarity and attention to subtle details elevate it towards the top of the charts. Musical
presence is fantastic; music doesn't always blare with unmatched vigor, but balance is superb, spacing is excellent, and clarity is unbeatable, whether a
Rock tune to open the movie, bass-heavy dance beats, or dramatic score. The track captures some light ambience that gently enters the stage and aids
in environmental construction and scene completion. Scattered heavier effects enjoy the expectedly accurate sonic presentations. Dialogue is smooth,
clear, and focused right up the middle. This is an impressive track and a fine example of sonic excellence in a naturally reserved Comedy sort of sound
presentation.
That's My Boy doesn't represent a return to greatness for Adam Sandler, but this movie is fun in an R-rated, raunchy sort of way. It's risqué
and far over the top and likely to offend a whole lot of people, but it's at least not explicitly grotesque. It's not even that ridiculous thanks to a decent
pace, a high energy level, and wonderful cast camaraderie.
It's also worlds better than Sandler's more recent pictures, but it's also a pretty solid outing all on its own, so long as audiences can accept that the
movie plays with, but in no way really endorses, no morals and some very bad things. It's funny and contagiously so but certainly
not for all audiences. Sony's Blu-ray release of That's My Boy features stellar video, great audio, and a few throwaway extras.
Definitely worth a
rent by mature, open-minded audiences, and fans can buy with confidence.
Sony Pictures has announced that it will release on Blu-ray Sean Anders' comedy That's My Boy (2012), starring Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Leighton Meester. The release will be available for purchase on October 16th.
