Grandma's Boy
Starring: Linda Cardellini, Allen Covert, Peter Dante, Shirley Jones, Shirley Knight, Joel David Moore, Kevin Nealon, Doris Roberts, Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider, David Spade
Directed by: Nicholaus Goossen

Released in the US: January 6th, 2006
Released in the UK: TBA 2006

Reviewed by: Adam Mast, ZBoneman.com

Grandma’s Boy is quite simply the funniest film made in the last ten years . . . if you’re a chronic pothead. Taking a page from the likes of Harold and Kumar and Half-baked, this new comedy – which comes courtesy of the folks at Happy Madison Productions – lacks the heart and consistency of the sweet and funny The 40 Year Old Virgin, but still provides a sizable helping of laughs, particularly if you enter the theater after having partaken of a little Visine and handful of Tic Tacs. Yes, this is ultimately a film made by potheads, about potheads, for potheads (are you writing this down Tyson?).

Grandma’s Boy features Adam Sandler film veteran Allen Covert as Alex, a thirty five year old video game tester forced to move in with his sweet grandmother Lilly (played by Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond fame) because he’s been evicted from his scummy apartment. Alex passes the time kicking other gamers’ asses at work and, of course, smoking two joints before he smokes two joints and then smoking two more.

Grandma’s Boy doesn’t have what one might call a plot (unless the “L” is silent). The entire film plays like a stoner’s jam session. And in fact, I challenge the film makers to produce an actual screenplay. If there is one, I doubt it’s comprised of enough paper to roll more than the six joints alluded to above. It’s clear that much of what winds up on the screen was created on the fly - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if those doing the improvising are funny enough to carry it off. Are they? I’ll let you be the judge. Since I don’t personally indulge in the snootchie bootchie, perhaps I’m not the best judge. From a straighter perspective, let’s just say that Grandma’s Boy is a clumsy movie, but one “laced” with several big laughs along the way.

There isn’t anything particularly memorable about the cast. Star Allen Covert is more or less sleep-walking through this thing. Doris Roberts is sweet, but this is pretty much her TV persona minus the edge. E.R.’s Linda Cardellini is back in Freak and Geek mode as the so-called love-interest, and while she never really develops any true chemistry with Covert, she does manage to shine on her own - particularly in a sexy little karaoke sequence. Perhaps the strangest cast member involved in this “doper-opus” is one Shirley Jones (of The Partridge Family fame), who plays against type as Lilly’s roommate Grace, an older woman who likes to brag about all the celebrities she’s had in the sack.

Of course the vast majority of the humor in Grandma’s Boy is of the crude variety. There’s a scene, for example, in which a man inadvertently (don’t ask how) ejaculates on his best friend’s mom, another in which a young gamer spends approximately thirteen hours sucking on the tits (fake tits I might add) of an eager party goer, and finally we get a sexual romp featuring the seasoned Shirley Jones and a much younger gentleman. Strangely though, a lot of this stuff is surprisingly funny. Much more so than those last two Ryan Reynolds outings (Just Friends, Waiting).

Of course in comedies like this, there’s bound to be stuff that falls flat. In Grandma’s Boy, there’s a dumb, incredibly dull sub-plot featuring a legendary game designer (Dodgeball’s Joel Moore) who appears to have split personality disorder. He’s part geek, part robot, and all moron. I just can’t get over how painfully unfunny he is in this movie, and his sole purpose in the flick is to cause a little friction with Covert.

In the end, I wouldn’t call Grandma’s Boy a laugh-a-second riot, nor would I call it memorable comedy - but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to laughing on numerous occasions. So no, Grandma’s Boy isn’t really the funniest film of the last ten years, but it is fair to say that this little “Covert operation” is certainly the funniest film of 2006. Which leaves but a scant 355 days to de-throne it.

Grade: C+