After a string of disappointing titles, Blended reunites Adam Sandler with Drew Barrymore, a co-star with whom he’s had a track record of success. While these stars have shown onscreen chemistry in the past, in this effort they’re weighed down by an abundance of juvenile humor aimed towards pleasing young audience members. Ultimately, the movie provides little more than the lowest common denominator in slapstick and not enough believable human interest to sustain its nearly two hour running time.
The story introduces single parents Jim (Adam Sandler) and Lauren (Drew Barrymore) on a awkward blind date. It’s uncomfortable because Jim takes his uptight date to Hooters, eats her food while she’s away and generally behaves in a way that no human being in a similar situation would. Naturally, the two vow never to have anything to do with one another. However, when a mutual friend cancels out on an African safari vacation, each parent separately takes advantage of the free trip. To their shock, the adults and their families arrive together and must share the all inclusive vacation. Of course, Jim and Lauren decide to make the best of it. And after helping each other’s kids overcome some growing pains, they become attracted to one another.
It’s already preposterous, but the movie also has difficulty in establishing likable characters. As written, the majority of the jokes seem centered around the precocious kids. This results in a film filled with masturbation and breast gags. The wild nature of a few of the children also make some characters come across in an a grating manner. Not that the adults fare much better, with one likening the stripes of a zebra to a bowel movement in their shorts and another describing a part of the female anatomy using a camel metaphor. It’s hardly the stuff of romance.
Perhaps the biggest problem is that there’s little to no conflict in the entire story. Sure, the film may be a romantic comedy, but there should always be a bit of tension that leads to heated banter or passionate exchanges. It never feels like there’s much keeping these characters apart. The only mild arguments come when one of the adults disagrees with the other’s parenting style. Lauren’s nasty, one-note ex-husband (Joel McHale) is introduced at the beginning of the film, but he ends up out of the picture until the final act. As a result, there’s no real drama from that subplot either, leaving the entire enterprise feeling flat.
Yes, once the kid’s issues are settled and the parents are allowed a bit of romantic comedy time alone, the picture isn’t quite as exasperating. One can imagine that if the screenplay had found a way to subdue its infantile approach to humor, it may have been more effective. But in the time given, it never builds enough momentum to undo the damage caused by the crass jokes. All of the actors involved deserve better material.
Sandler has some interesting projects coming up with the likes of Jason Reitman (Juno) and Tom McCarthy (Win Win) that will hopefully break his lengthy streak of weak films. In the meantime, Blended is exactly the type of project that does the actor no favors. It’s a meandering effort with tired, lowbrow yuks.