Adam Sandler’s back in wacky voice mode in “That’s My Boy.” While the film seems to be right up the alley of Sandler’s typical characters as of late, I am happy to say that the film is a return to the dirty adult comedies that made him famous.
After the horror that was “Jack and Jill” and the lackluster “Grown Ups,” I think it was time for Sandler to either step behind the camera for good or abandon his child-friendly films for awhile.
Here’s the plot: While still in his very early teens, a not-so-bright Donny Berger (Adam Sandler) follows his youthful lust and fathers a child with a teacher at his school and is forced to raise his son, Han Solo Berger (Andy Samberg), by himself as the teacher is sent to jail for the inappropriate relationship. Once he reaches the age of maturity, Han moves away from his father, changes his name to Todd Peterson and moves on with his life. Years pass and Donny finds himself in a predicament as he owes the IRS $43,000 and has to pay it back immediately to avoid jail time. He finds his son, who is about to marry into some money, and shows up the week of the wedding to try and reconnect with his son in an effort to borrow the money. However, Todd wants nothing to do with his father – whom he blames for a reckless and ruined youth. Donny has to try to make amends for a ruined childhood. With very little time left, he must fix all the wrongs he has done to his son, but without ever truly transitioning into an adult mindset himself this will be harder than he imagined.
So what do you think? Will “That’s My Boy” be a flop or is there potential there? Before you decide, check out five clips from the film.
In the first clip, we see the beginning of what was to become the incident that changed young Donny (Justin Weaver) for the rest of his life. When he seems to be in trouble, Donny has no idea that his teacher, Mrs. McGarricle (Eva Amurri Martino), is about to come onto him. His reaction is only natural for someone as young and full of hormones as he is.
Clip No. 2 picks up after Donny has found his son and it is apparent from the start that Todd is very damaged from his father’s youthful indiscretions and his lack of an adult mindset. Even as Todd recalls having to drive his drunken father home, Donny still has a beer in his hand. This reunion doesn’t seem to be going the way Donny was hoping it would, but he also fails to see the problems and lasting effects his actions had on his son.
Up next, we see once again Donny doing a horrible job at trying to reconcile and start a relationship with his son. Here’s a tip, don’t laugh and make fun of him for something you did to him. It’s inconceivable how a person would be able to get a tattoo that young, but the ridiculousness of it is pretty funny. This clip also shows you that it will be extremely hard for Todd to forgive his father as he shows no remorse or apologetic nature for any of the physical or emotional scars he has caused his son.
In yet another attempt to show us how bad a person and a father Donny is, we see him once again betraying his son’s trust as he tries to help him learn to ride a bike. As soon as he lets go and Todd is off on his own, things don’t seem to go very well. I’m not sure whether Todd is just that athletically challenged or if it’s a lack of confidence due to a troubling childhood, but man, it’s a car, just avoid it!
In this fifth and final clip, we get to see someone else interacting with Todd for a change, as his fiancée, Jamie (Leighton Meester), is trying to wrap up the final preparations for their upcoming nuptials. Due to the stress of his father’s presence, Todd took a few Zanax and is feeling loopy –well he uses another word – but you can see how his lifestyle and attitude have gone from uptight to more relaxed. I think that although the major of the influence his father untimely wedding crashing will be negative there might be some positives as well.
Although these clips show not much more than the messed up relationship between father and son – and the extended cast is completely missing from these clips – I do think you are getting the concept and how the film will be. If I was in charge of releasing clips to intrigue people, I would personally showcase all of the main characters and secondary characters as well. The extended cast also includes Susan Sarandon, Milo Ventimiglia, Ciara, Vanilla Ice, Alan Thicke, Will Forte, Nick Swardson, Ana Gasteyer, Todd Bridges and Tony Orlando.
“That’s My Boy” is out June 15 and will be rated R for crude sexual content, drug use, nudity and pervasive language.
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