What separates Blended from much of Adam Sandler’s more recent output is that the actor plays a pretty decent guy. The movie still suffers from many of the same flaws: it’s formulaic, it doesn’t earn its treacly sentiment, and there are surprisingly few jokes. But the simple fact that the main character isn’t an awful bully makes it pretty tolerable in the long run. The inherent decency of the character allows Sandler to once again express the likability that made him a star, the actor getting to flex muscles that apparently haven’t quite atrophied.
The movie begins with single dad Jim (Adam Sandler) going on a disastrous date with single mom Lauren (Drew Barrymore). The two are so put off by the awful experience that they pretty much swear off dating altogether and recommit to simply taking care of their kids. But through a series of convolutions, the two and their respective families end up on the same vacation to an African resort. Forced to spend time together, the two soon realize that they’re actually a pretty good fit.
Once again, the movie just really seems to be a ploy to get Hollywood to subsidize Sandler’s vacations. The convolutions involved in getting these characters to hate each other at first and then get them both to Africa are pretty ridiculous. It really does seem that no one particularly cared about making the setup make much sense. The important thing is that Sandler gets to Africa. It’s not the best approach to writing any story, and the film really suffers from it. The beginning and end of this movie are pretty intolerable, the film adhering to a romcom formula that doesn’t really fit.
But the scenes in between aren’t bad. There, the characters are just hanging out in this magical land and being decent to each other. The film doesn’t have any great insight into parenting. Its outlook is pretty basic and traditional: dads deal with guy things and moms deal with girl things. But it’s actually kind of nice to see a film that’s just about two people helping each other out and learning to get along. There aren’t very many jokes in there, but there’s a general sweetness that’s been painfully missing from a lot of the comedies released in the last few years.
A lot of the appeal comes from the two main actors. Adam Sandler lowers the façade of loud, fratty aggression and taps into his long-forgotten sensitive side. When Sandler really goes for it, he aches like an open wound. Here he seems more human than he’s been in years. Drew Barrymore has proven to be one of his best collaborators. She exudes the same basic human decency through whatever comedic construct her character is meant to carry. Here she is neurotic and obsessed with organization. But what shines through is that she mostly wants what’s best for everyone.
It would still be pretty tough to recommend Blended to anyone. It still feels pretty lazy for a major production. But it does offer the occasional reminder that Adam Sandler was actually once a great comedian and a really exciting actor. In the end, the film has to revert to formula and offer up even more convoluted plot points to reach its clichéd ending. But for a good long while, one doesn’t really have to think about all that. For a while, it’s just funny, warm people generally being good to each other. While that’s not ideal for all movies, here it works out somewhat.
My Rating:
