Blended

The comedies of Adam Sandler have this strange tinge of originality. On the one hand, they can provide some excellent entertainment, but at times, they contain so many references to pop-culture that without knowing anything about it, you will be completely lost. If you are not well-read in American pop culture, many of the jokes will be lost on you. And the problem with Blended is that the humor is all based on pop-cultural references and if my girlfriend hadn’t told me that one scene is a reference to Kardashian, I would have simply thought it was a very embarrassing moment. And I actually experienced quite a lot of those in the film. I mean it took me forever to understand that the entire African band headed by Crews is actually a brutal reference to an Old Spice commercial. It really hasn’t happened to me in a really long time that I wouldn’t know what review to give to a movie, let alone a comedy. Blended contains the laid-back atmosphere of Adam Sandler’s movies, but on the other hand the movie contains so many unfunny moments and lines that I spent more time shaking my head in disbelief than I did laughing. And that’s actually saying something because I laughed pretty hard a couple of times. For instance, that idea with Africa is really nice. It’s actually the reason why the movie is so pleasant to watch. But the depiction of Africa is so wacky that it makes Americans look like superhumans who are willing to spend loads of money on absolute absurdities. The best moment was for instance when the people riding jeeps on safari drove directly next to the lions to take a close look at them. And not only lions. (28/07/2015)

I can't seem to get into comedies starring Adam Sandler. In the first half of this farce, I was almost sinking in embarrassment at the awkwardness of some situations. Then I got used to it and sometimes I even laughed heartily. What I did like was primarily the African passage, where I could admire at least the beautiful nature, when the humor was scarce. (55%) (27/03/2021)

Adam Sandler is already starting to show signs of aging and his face looks quite tired in places, but the connection between him and Drew Barrymore is working again. The two of them just fit well in movies. It's not funny from start to finish, there are also some touching, romantic moments, but the two of them save it, just like the classic Sandler characters, of which there are plenty here as well. (17/07/2014)