Grandma's Boy (DVD)

This year, there have been 12 films from major studios that have gone unscreened for film critics before there release. The new DVD release Grandma's Boy was one of those features that went unscreened.

Essentially, that might be all you need to know about this stoner comedy from Adam Sandler's Happy Madison productions. Usually when a picture goes unscreened, it is never as bad as the studio seems to think it actually is. Grandma's Boy is the exception to the rule; it really is that bad. In fact, it might even actually be worse.

There is a chance that this assessment could be a little bit overly cruel. There is a certain surreal fascination watching Florence Henderson seduce a befuddled drug-addled sarcastic virgin (played in monosyllabic cadences by co-writer Nick Swardson), and as "Everybody Loves Raymond" more than proved Emmy-winner Doris Roberts can make even the most anemic line sing like blissfully comedic opera. But, really, come on now, there is a deadness to this whole enterprise that reeks of desperation, the movie so flat and maudlin you almost have to wonder if the entire cast was actually smoking the marijuana for real the entire time they were making it.

For those who need to know, Grandma's Boy follows the exploits of 35-year-old video game tester Alex (co-writer Allen Covert) who is forced out of his apartment after not paying the rent. With nowhere else to go, he ends up moving in with his grandmother (Roberts) and her two old-fogy roommates (Henderson and Shirley Knight). Comedy ensues as Alex romances his new department head (Scooby-Doo star Linda Cardellini), battles with a nerdy game designer (Joel Moore) and gets high with his friends. There's also a karate-chopping chimp, some gratuitous nudity and pointless cameos by David Spade, Kevin Nealon and Rob Schneider thrown in for good measure.

The whole thing plays like an exceedingly unfunny "Saturday Night Liv"e skit that goes on for far too long. Even at just 90 minutes this thing moves at the pace of a Galapagos Sea Turtle marching across a desert covered in Elmer's Glue, each step of Alex's journey so ponderously sophomoric there is more wit to be found in a random high school locker room than there is to be discovered here. Directed with bizarre stodginess by Nicholaus Goossen and written with imbecilic glee by stars Covert, Swardson and Barry Wernick, it is quite possible this could be the single unfunniest comedy I've ever had to sit through, and when you've seen as many movies as I have that's an impressive achievement.

The DVD for Grandma's Boy is far more extraordinary than the film deserves. Both the R-rated and unrated versions of the movie are offered in both Full Screen and Widescreen (2.35:1) on a flipper disc. As for the special features, there are brief featurettes on the film's "whacking" scene, on casting and an admittedly rather enjoyable one about the monkey. There are the usual trailers, a music video (with its own "making of" doc for some inexplicable reason) and some deleted scenes (many of which are actually incorporated back into the unrated edition making them kind of pointless).

Finally, there are two audio commentaries, the director chiming in on one track (which was so bland I couldn't finish listening to it) while the three stars banter back and forth on the other. The funny thing here is that the second commentary is actually kind of fun, Covert, Swardson and Wernick far more enjoyable and engaging talking about the film than they actually are starring in it.

Grandma's Boy is a mess. It is pointless, juvenile and crassly unfunny. It aspires to gross-out comedy greatness and instead fails miserably at even just being a mindless diversionary time-passer. As striking as this DVD presentation from 20th Century Fox is I can't imagine who would ever want to pick the gosh darn thing up. Simply put, this comedy about a bunch of guys trying to find their next high is nothing more than a mind numbing downer.