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Blended (film)

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Blended
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Coraci
Written by
  • Clare Sera
  • Ivan Menchell
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byTom Costain
Music byRupert Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 23, 2014 (2014-05-23)
Running time
117 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$128 million[2]

Blended is a 2014 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera. Starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with an ensemble cast featuring Bella Thorne, Emma Fuhrmann, Terry Crews, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon, and Shaquille O'Neal, the film was released on May 23, 2014.[3][4]

Blended marked the third romantic comedy collaboration between Sandler and Barrymore, following The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates. Coraci also previously directed Sandler and Barrymore in The Wedding Singer. It also marked Sandler's first role in a Warner Bros. film.

Plot

Divorcee Lauren Reynolds (Drew Barrymore), who has two sons, Brendan (Braxton Beckham) and Tyler (Kyle Red Silverstein), meets Jim Friedman (Adam Sandler), a widower with three daughters, Hilary (Bella Thorne), Espn (Emma Fuhrmann), and Lou (Alyvia Alyn Lind) on a blind date. The date ends in a disaster due to Jim's clumsy and careless attitude and Lauren's perfectionist nature along with the fact that they have their date at Hooters.

The next day at work Lauren talks about her experience to her friend Jen (Wendi McLendon-Covey) who reassures her by saying that everyone has a bad blind date and asks who set the date up to which Lauren replies that it was the mother of one of Tyler's classmates. Jen then suggests to Lauren that she try on a black dress, which Lauren does, causing Jen to remark that she looks better than expected. Lauren tearfully begins lamenting that she should have tried dressing better when she was married to her ex-husband. This causes Jen to assert that her Lauren's ex is a pig and a concerned Lauren states that even her children are unaware of their father's irresponsibility.

Meanwhile, Jim discusses his date with his co-worker, commenting that Lauren dressed like a principal which made him feel like he was more on a detention than a date. He declares that he'd rather spend his time with his daughters than date again. When Hilary makes an appearance Jim affectionately calls her Larry which annoys her since people mistake her for a boy due to her tomboyish looks. Jim proposes a camping trip with family which Hilary opposes saying that her classmates are visiting places like Florida and Switzerland. Jim responds by saying that they don't have enough money to afford such a trip to which an upset Hilary agrees and wistfully expresses that they could one day go someplace.

Later, Jim and Lauren run into each other at a pharmacy where Jim looks for tampons for his daughter Hilary and Lauren searches for an erotic centrefold for Brendan because she accidentally destroyed his original that she found underneath his bed. After their encounter, Jim realizes that their credit cards were mixed up due to their exchanging their purchased items to avoid embarrassment, and goes to Lauren's house to switch them back. There, he and Lauren learn that Jen has broken up with her boyfriend Dick (Dan Patrick), who happens to be Jim's boss, over his having kids, and that they will no longer be going on a planned African vacation together. Unbeknownst to each other, Jim and Lauren both arrange to go on the pre-booked vacation with their families. When they arrive in Africa the two families are surprised to see each other. Things get more awkward when Jim and Lauren are given a romantic suite.

The families are put together for a "blended familymoon", where they get together with other couples, including the oversexed Eddy (Kevin Nealon) and Ginger (Jessica Lowe), Eddy's new bride and quite his junior to the chagrin of their teenage son Jake (Zak Henri), who Hilary develops a crush on at first sight.

The kids make an awkward impression with each other, with Brendan calling his mom "hot," and the others not knowing how to react to Espn acting like her imaginary mom is there with her as she is not ready to let go of her quite yet. Over time though, they begin to bond with each other and each other's parents.

Jim makes the boys happy by helping them with adventurous sports and they slowly warm up to him, ultimately seeing him as a father figure they needed, while Lauren takes care of the girls, and helps Hilary to change her tomboyish look into a more feminine one drawing the attention of her now boyfriend, Jake. Jim and Lauren warm up to each other as time passes. They inadvertently get together for a couples massage and have fun with each other. Afterwards, the girls prove their affection for Lauren, when Lou asks for her to put her to bed. Lauren does so and sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which, unknown to her, was the song Lou's mom used to sing. The other girls pretend to sleep, while realizing how much they truly love Lauren. She returns this feeling when she maternally kisses each girl's forehead as she says goodnight. Jim starts to realize the depth of his feelings for Lauren.

On the last night of the trip, Lauren puts on a beautiful black dress that she admired earlier. She wears it that evening and receives admiration from everyone. While the children are pulled away for a kids-only buffet, Jake briefly smiles at Ginger, earning her tearfully telling Eddy how truly happy she is, while they agree that they are ultimately going to be a beautiful family. Meanwhile, Jim and Lauren are sat down for a romantic dinner, which Lauren soon discovers was actually planned by Jim specifically for her. They chat briefly about basic parenting techniques and then pull in for a kiss; however, at the last second, Jim pulls away, apologizing and explaining that he "can't do it".

After returning home, Jim realizes he misses Lauren and that he's fallen in love with her, which he admits to his daughters who are ecstatic with the news. Although Espn is not fully ready to move on from her mother's passing, she also doesn't want her dad, or herself to lose Lauren. She starts to move on by telling her dad that her mom said that she had other things to do in Heaven and wouldn't be around as much (and of course to increase her allowance). At the kids' behest, Jim goes to Lauren's house to give her flowers, only to find her ex-husband Mark there, pretending to be back with Lauren. Tyler gets excited to see Jim and wants to play ball, but Jim sadly leaves and Mark bails on his son again. Mark later tries to make a move on Lauren, but she refuses since he has continuously failed to be a good father, as well as having an affair with his receptionist during their marriage.

That following Saturday, Lauren and Brendan go to support Tyler at his game, along with Jen, Dick, who Jen has worked things out with, and his kids. Mark, once again, is a no-show. Jim and his daughters arrive to show encouragement, inspiring Tyler to hit the ball. Jim then finds Lauren and they admit to wanting to be together, and they finally kiss, to the happiness of their kids, who realize that they are already a family.

Cast

Production

Wendi McLendon-Covey joined the cast of the film on July 31, 2013; she played Barrymore's character's best friend, who has no children. Chelsea Handler was previously cast in this role.[5] On July 31, 2013, Warner Bros. changed the title from Blended to The Familymoon,[6][7] before reverting to its original title later that year.

Filming

Principal photography for Blended took place in Sun City, South Africa; some scenes were filmed near Lake Lanier,[citation needed] Buford,[8] and Gainesville[citation needed] in Georgia, USA. Warner Bros. co-produced the film with Happy Madison Productions.[citation needed]

Release

The film was distributed by Warner Bros. and was released theatrically on May 23, 2014.[7]

Reception

Critical response

Blended earned widely negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 14% rating based on 128 critics, with the consensus: "Lurching between slapstick and schmaltz without showing much of a commitment to either, Blended commits the rare Sandler sin of provoking little more than boredom."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 31 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10]

A. O. Scott, chief film critic for The New York Times, complained about the film's "retrograde gender politics; its delight in the humiliation of children; its sentimental hypocrisy about male behavior; its quasi-zoological depiction of Africans as servile, dancing, drum-playing simpletons" and concluded "Parents strongly cautioned. It will make your children stupid."[11]

Hitfix declared Blended is “[Not] Adam Sandler's Worst [film]!"[12] Christy Lemire defiantly gave the movie 1.5 stars and stated that while this wasn’t Sandler’s best performance, "That actor is in there, somewhere. Perhaps Sandler will actually challenge himself again one of these days and set him free."[13] The National's Jocelyn Noveck said, “To say that the new Adam Sandler movie is better than some of his other recent work isn’t saying much” and gave the movie a single star.[14]

Defending the film for its strong family values, Graham Young of the Birmingham Mail wrote, "It’s warm, funny, tender, serious and, despite a couple of teenage references, decidedly old fashioned. There’s no swearing, no pandering to repeated toilet gags and the ‘gross-out’ market is all but ignored. Instead, there’s lots of genuinely funny slapstick, singing asides and some great kids’ performances."[15]

Box office

Blended grossed $14,284,031 in its opening weekend, finishing in third at the box office behind X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla.[16] Blended is considered to be “one of Adam Sandler’s Worst-Ever Openings" by Cinema Blend[17]

As of February 28, 2015, the film has grossed $46,219,290 in North America and roughly $81,800,000 in other territories for a total gross of roughly $128 million.

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Golden Raspberry Awards February 21, 2015 Worst Actor Adam Sandler Nominated [18]
Worst Actress Drew Barrymore Nominated
Worst Supporting Actor Shaquille O'Neal Nominated

References

  1. ^ "BLENDED (12A)". Warner Bros. British Board of Film Classification. March 27, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Blended (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "Warner Bros. Announces Title, Release Date for Adam Sandler Romantic Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  4. ^ "Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Comedy Blended Set for May 23, 2014". ComingSoon.net. April 24, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "'Bridesmaids' Actress 'Wendi McLendon-Covey' Joins Adam Sandler Comedy for Warner Bros". thewrap.com. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  6. ^ "Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore Comedy Re-Named 'Familymoon'". Variety. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Warner Bros' Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore Rom-Com Gets New Name". deadline.com. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  8. ^ "'Blended', starring Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore, will film in Georgia, too". onlocationvacations.com. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  9. ^ "Blended". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  10. ^ "Blended Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  11. ^ "When Single Parents Collide on a Safari". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  12. ^ "Blended". Hit Fix. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  13. ^ "Blended". Roger Ebert. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  14. ^ "The National". Roger Ebert. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  15. ^ http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/film-news/review-blended-12a-7165186
  16. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blended.htm
  17. ^ "Blended". Grant Land. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  18. ^ "RAZZIES Celebrate 35 Years of Worst Achievements in Film with Inclusive Nominee List ...and New "Redeemer" Award". Golden Raspberry Award Foundation. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
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