That's My Boy Review

Throughout the 90’s Adam Sandler proved himself a worthy comedian and comedy writer alike with such works as Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison and Big Daddy.

However, at some point down the road it seemed he lost something. Sandler slowly started to write, produce and star in worse movies such as Grown Ups, Bucky Larson (which he helped write)and his most recent atrocity, Jack and Jill.

"That’s My Boy" made a better attempt at bringing back some of the humor that made us love Sandler, but couldn’t quite go the distance in redeeming his past mistakes.

The movie starts in 1984 with 12 year old Donny Berger (Justin Weaver) having intimate relations with his 22 year old teacher Ms. McGarricle (Eva Amurri). This awkward montage of student-teacher debauchery set an uncomfortable tone for the rest of the movie that seemed to linger in the air.

When the relationship is disturbingly revealed in a school assembly Ms. McGarricle is found to be pregnant and sentenced to 30 years in prison; Donny then is sentenced by the judge to care for his son, Han Solo Berger (Andy Samberg), when he turns 18.

The rest of the movie focuses on Donny working on his tarnished relationship with his son and finding a way to pay off a $43,000 IRS bill.

“That’s My Boy”, while simple as it is on the surface, showed potential to bring Sandler back to his glory days, but instead filled itself with over-the-top raunchiness that left a sour taste in the mouth of its audience, such as an unnecessary addition of incest in the plot and two completely inappropriate strip club scenes.

This obscenity did lend itself to some of the funniest parts of the movie, but ultimately made the experience upsetting and tasteless, relying on cheap, unforgettable laughs.

While the film did display some interesting social commentary on celebrity life and the American school system it easily took a back seat to the non-stop sex jokes that clouded the film's direction.

Samberg made a decent attempt at his role but it wasn’t enough to take away from the disappointment that is That’s My Boy.

Whatever happened to the Sandler movies that had viewers cracking up the whole way through?

Whatever happened to the warm, sentimental moments that left the audience with a sense of finality?

One thing’s for sure: you’re not going to find the answers to those questions here.

The only thing this movie has to offer is a few quick chuckles and a sloppy attempt at the comedy Adam Sandler used to do right.

“That’s My Boy” gets 3 stars out of 5.

Austin Flynn can be reached at aflynn@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 259
This article was first published on the Daily Egyptian website.