That's My Boy

Adam Sandler is one of those comedians whose pretty nostalgic, and seems to get more hate than deserved. Sure, films like "Jack and Jill" and "Funny People" might be a cause for it, but some of his other work done by Happy Madison Studios is still pretty good. Since I saw his 1999 film, "Big Daddy," I've grown to like Sander's style of comedy, and "Punch Drunk Love" can show how much of a great dramatic actor he can be. With his other films, I've always found one way or the other to like them. It's pretty easy to say, he's the comedian of my childhood. On another note, Andy Samberg seems to have his reputation pretty well balanced. His teamwork with the comedy trio of "The Lonely Island" on SNL, like Sandler, has good comedy to it, especially with them doing the digital shorts like "Laser Cats," and the highly underrated comedy, "Hot Rod," still holds up. For a while, I've always hoped that one day that the three of them would one day work on a great project with other favorite comedians of mine.

Fortunately, my wish was partially granted, with Sandler and Samberg playing the role of a father and son duo, in "That's My Boy." Now when I heard about this film, when it was called "I Hate You Dad" then to "Donny's Boy," I immediately got hyped. This would be the first time I get to see two of my favorite comedians work together for the first time. It was a dream come true, to where I thought either one of them found a post online about it. And when I saw the trailer for this film, I got even more hyped, that I could enjoy my dream comedy. Though, I didn't want to get myself TOO hyped, becuase if it didn't live up to ALL of my expectations, then I would be negative towards it. So I only kept myself thinking it would at least be a decent comedy. I got that...AND more! This film not only lives up to it's expectations, but SURPASSES them! I loved this movie, I really...REALLY loved this movie!

The film centers around Donny Berger, a young middle schooler (who actually ACTS like a middle schooler) who seems to have an affection for his teacher, Mary McGarricle. After having a hidden relationship with her, Donny becomes big after he's found out, but gets Mary pregnant and then sent to jail. Three decades later, Donny grows up into Adam Sandler, and is not that big a star as he used to, and he's in dept to the IRS with over forty-grand. When he finds out his son Han Solo Berger, played by Andy Samberg, who left at eighteen and changed his name to Todd Peterson, is gettin married and will be the richest hedge-trimmer in the country, Donny tries to make-up for all he's done and win his son's trust and respect back.

Now that's as far as I'm going with it, because if I did that, I'd spoil the movie. This film was worth practically worth every minute watching! I laughed so hard at this film, that it more than makes up for any bad film Sandler's been apart of! However, I'll admit there were a couple things I didn't find settling, but it's extremely minor. With it being 'R-rated,' it had room for a bit grotesque moments like the sight of a guy's boner, a man's ass in the shot, strippers, and a lot more. Stuff like that does tend to be a bit off, and disgusts me, since that usually tends to be the type of comedy I'm not into like others...but I let it go for this movie. I know stuff like this would be there, so I was prepared. I mean, the trailers basically tell us that a teenager screwed his teacher, why WOULDN'T there be so much sexual humor?

The casting was simply great. You already know that Sandler and Samberg are in this film, and let me say that they do a fantastic job together. When the two are on screen together, it's just comedy gold for me. Leighton Meester plays Samberg's fiance, Jamie, and she was surprisingly good. By that, I mean that she was just completely AWEFUL in last year's movie, "The Roommate," so I was very skeptic about her in this movie. However, I decided to give her a chance, thinking she could be good in this film. And thankfully, she was great in this film! She was very enjoyable in this film, and I praise her for actually showing effort in this movie. I also love how her family was portrayed in the movie! The father, the mother, and even the brother got a laugh out of me! I also enjoyed Samberg's boss and his mother. Every moment got at least a chuckle out of me, ESPECIALLY Vanilla Ice. Yes, the white rapper from the 90's is in this film, and he plays Sandler's friend and Samberg's uncle. I friggin loved the Ice-man and he had me laughing so hard, I just kept begging for him to be in more! Not only that, but Will Forte had a great performance; James Caan as the priest was fantastic; even Nick Swardson was pretty good too. People seem to think Nick Swardson is nothing but a talentless, unfunny, annoying, un-original hack, but I think he can give a funny performance at times. Sure, he's had some hit and miss points, but he tries. Honestly, the way people think of Swardson is how I feel about Jonah Hill, only it's truer.

Overall, "That's My Boy" is just a fantastic comedy! It's funny, it's got great pacing, the casting is fantastic, and is one of the greatest comedies I've seen in years! I hope one day Sandler and Samberg make another film toge-oh wait...that's "Hotel Transylvania"...uh...STILL! I hope their movie AFTER will have them, and at least the rest of "The Lonely Island"!

Rating: 9/10