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BLENDED

Blended is a 2014 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and distributed by Warner

Bros. Written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera, the film stars Adam Sandler and Drew

Barrymore as two single parents who went on a blind date together and never wanted to see each

other again afterwards. To their surprise, they both end up at the same African safari resort with

their children and are forced to stay together. The film's ensemble cast also features Bella

Thorne, Emma Fuhrmann, Terry Crews, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon,

and Shaquille O'Neal. South African cricketer Dale Steyn makes a cameo appearance as himself.

Here is the main difference between "Blended" and his other output over the past several years,

slapped-together efforts like "Just Go With It," "Jack and Jill," "That’s My Boy" and the "Grown

Ups" movies:. Barrymore and Sandler have the opposite of a meet-cute over a terrible blind date.

Barrymore’s Lauren is the uptight, divorced mother of two boys; Sandler’s Jim is the schlumpy

widower father of three girls. They keep running into each other in their quir, Dick’s. There’s 15-

year-old basketball star Hilary , who’s tired of being a tomboy; middle daughter Espn (Emma

Fuhrmann, who provides the one genuinely poignant moment in the whole film), who was

named for the sports channel and who still talks to her deceased mother; and the youngest, Lou ,

who looks like an angel but talks like the devil. Is it possible that these boys are in need of a

father figure and the girls could use a little maternal guidance? Jim and Lauren’s rolesand their

potential—are obvious, but "Blended" has zero faith in its audience and feels the need to spell

out every single development and emotion, right as they’re happening on screen in front of us.

Often this comes in the form of an omnipresent Greek chorus of African singers, led by an

overly caffeinated Terry Crews and his impressive pectorals. Wendi McLendon-Covey does the

best she can to bring a shred of unpredictability to her role as the obligatory, wisecracking best

friend although a crass, running bit in which she and Lauren are mistaken for lesbians isn’t even

funny the first time. Similarly, longtime Sandler friend and fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum

Kevin Nealon gets stuck in a flat, repetitive gag in which he and his buxom and bubbly new

wife make out with each other incessantly. And Sandler himself allows some of his dramatic

instincts to shine through in a few scenes the kind that made his performances in "Punch-Drunk

Love" and "Funny People" so unexpected and welcome. Especially when he’s dealing one on

one with the kids both the boys and the girls there’s a naturalism and even some substance that’s

so often lacking elsewhere. That actor is in there, somewhere. Perhaps Sandler will actually

challenge himself again one of these days and set him free.

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BLENDED Blended is a 2014 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and distributed by Warner Bros. Written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera, the film stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as two single parents who went on a blind date together and never wanted to see each other again afterwards ...
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