Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Become ‘Blended’ in New Romantic Comedy

Usually after a date goes wrong the couple go their separate ways with the avowed intention of never seeing each other again. But according to the new Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore comedy it seems such people are missing a trick, as you can use it as a springboard to get a whole bunch of free stuff. Posing as a happy man and wife in order to qualify for a holiday at a luxury resort, it isn’t long before the chemistry starts to flow and the former car crash daters fall in love for real without the need for pina coladas or the act of getting caught in the rain. This is the premise for BLENDED, the pair’s third movie together and the first to reunite them with the director who started their onscreen partnership in THE WEDDING SINGER back in 1998, Frank Coraci.

With Sandler and Barrymore now firmly into middle age, BLENDED sees them on more of a family footing, with their respective children along for the ride. Now that Sandler is approaching the Big Five O you’d think he’d be toning down the ‘woo’ factor but the filmmakers were keen for him to get stuck into proceedings with his co-star, the surprise cheerleader being none other than his wife Jackie:

‘We’re doing a nice romantic scene and I think I’m doing pretty great being as romantic as I can be and then like – OK, moving on, let’s go, that was great Drew. Good job… And I’m walking away and I just see my wife like (shaking her head)… “What’s the matter?”…”Just please, for the sake of women, get in there and just look a little more alive.””

It’s a far cry from the image Sandler projected in his most recent films, GROWN UPS (2010) and its sequel in 2013. Putting him together with real life buddies Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and David Spade, the franchise saw the male gaggle getting into mischief, forever at odds with their long-suffering wives. Continuing the peculiar American tradition of casting Hollywood’s most desirable women as “the old ball and chain” (see also COUPLES RETREAT), GROWN UPS co-starred Salma Hayek and Maria Bello. The movies were critically-derided but smashed it financially, a trend that has followed Sandler throughout his career and with a combined box office of over $2 billion and rising one he surely isn’t that concerned about. He comes from a long tradition of comics who divide opinion, from Jerry Lewis (THE NUTTY PROFESSOR) to Jim Varney (ERNEST GOES ON AD INFINITUM), and with laughter the most subjective business of all why not split audiences down the middle once in a while?

For Barrymore this is the first we’re seeing of her in a big release for a few years. Having focused on production via her company Flower Films, not to mention raising a family, her last high profile movie role was alongside Justin Long in GOING THE DISTANCE in 2010.  She won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe, for her small screen performance in Grey Gardens that same year. It’s easy to forget that Sandler has also had success in straight acting, holding his own against Emily Watson in Paul Thomas Anderson’s PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002) for example.

Rounding off the cast is former American football player Terry Crews. A colleague of Sandler’s mate Rock via Everybody Hates Chris, he scored a hit as Sergeant Jeffords in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and is about to take on his biggest challenge to date – being compared to Chris Tarrant when he inherits the quizmaster’s seat for the US version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

For those who fondly remember their Eighties-themed hi-jinks in THE WEDDING SINGER, and who stuck with them through 50 FIRST DATES (2004), BLENDED will be a must watch to see if the Sandler and Barrymore magic can work itself once again. Certainly Warner Bros will be hoping so and you can judge for yourself when it hits cinemas on May 23rd.

Interview Source: Daily Mail