Blended (film)

Blended is a 2014 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, and written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera. It stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, with an ensemble cast featuring Bella Thorne, Emma Fuhrmann, Terry Crews, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon, and Shaquille O'Neal. South African cricketer Dale Steyn plays a cameo as himself. It was released on May 23, 2014.[3][4] The film received generally negative reviews.

Blended
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Coraci
Produced by
Written by
  • Clare Sera
  • Ivan Menchell
Starring
Music byRupert Gregson-Williams
CinematographyJulio Macat
Edited byTom Costain
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 23, 2014 (2014-05-23)
Running time
117 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$128 million[2]

This is the third collaboration between Sandler and Barrymore after The Wedding Singer (also directed by Coraci) and 50 First Dates.

Plot

Divorcee Lauren Reynolds goes on a blind date with widower Jim Friedman at Hooters; it goes badly. Lauren talks to her friend Jen about the experience. Jim discusses his date with his co-worker. They both agree in the separate discussions that things could have gone better.

Lauren and Jim run into each other while on errands to the pharmacy, and the cashier mistakenly switches their credit cards. Jim goes to Laurens’ house to switch the credit cards back. Jen is at Lauren's house and has broken up with her boyfriend Dick, Jim's boss, although she and Dick had already paid for a trip to Africa. Lauren commits to using Jen's portion of the vacation package without knowing that Jim intends to use Dick's and the hotel accommodation is for a romantic suite.

The families are put together for a "blended familymoon", where they get together with other couples, including the oversexed Eddy and Ginger. Eddy's new bride is quite his junior, to the chagrin of their teenage son Jake, on whom Jim's oldest daughter Hilary develops a crush at first sight.

The kids make an awkward impression with each other, with Brendan calling his mom "hot," and the others not knowing how to react to Espn acting like her mom is there with her, as she is not ready to let go of her quite yet. Over time the kids begin to bond with each other and each other's parent.

Jim bonds with the boys, helping them with adventurous sports, while Lauren bonds with the girls, helping Hilary to change her tomboyish look into a more feminine one, leading to Jake becoming her boyfriend.

As they become closer to their children, Jim and Lauren begin to warm up to each other. They inadvertently get together for a couples massage and have fun with each other. When Lou asks Lauren to put her to bed, Lauren sings her "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which, unknown to her, was the song Lou's mom used to sing. The other girls pretend to sleep, while realizing how much they truly love Lauren. She returns this feeling when she maternally kisses each girl's forehead as she says goodnight. Jim starts to realize the depth of his feelings for Lauren.

On the last night of the trip, Lauren puts on a beautiful black dress that she admired earlier. She wears it that evening and receives admiration from everyone. Jim and Lauren are sat down for a romantic dinner, which Lauren soon discovers was actually planned by Jim specifically for her. They chat briefly about basic parenting techniques and then pull in for a kiss; however, at the last second, Jim pulls away, apologizing and explaining that he "can't do it".

After returning to America, Jim realizes he misses Lauren and that he's fallen in love with her, which he admits to his daughters who are ecstatic with the news. Although Espn is not fully ready to move on from her mother's passing, she also doesn't want her the family to lose Lauren. She starts to move on by telling her dad that her mom said that she had other things to do in Heaven and wouldn't be around as much.

At the kids' behest, Jim goes to Lauren's house to give her flowers, only to find her partner Mark there. Tyler gets excited to see Jim and wants to play ball; Mark bullies Jim into leaving; then ditches Tyler to answer a summons from work. Mark tries to make a move on Lauren; she refuses his advances because of his continuous failure to be a good father, in addition to his having an affair during their marriage.

Lauren and Brendan go to support Tyler at his next baseball game, along with Jen and Dick, whom Jen has worked things out with, and his five kids. Mark doesn't come to the game. Jim and his daughters arrive to show encouragement, inspiring Tyler to hit the ball. Jim then finds Lauren and they admit to wanting to be together, and they finally kiss, to the happiness of their kids, who realize that they are already a blended family.

Cast

In addition, Shaquille O'Neal appears as Doug; Dan Patrick, longtime anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter, appears as Dick; South African Cricket Team superstar Dale Steyn plays himself; Lauren Lapkus appears as Tracy the babysitter; Mary Pat Gleason appears as a pharmacy cashier; Allen Covert and Alexis Arquette make cameo appearances reprising their roles as Ten Second Tom and Georgina from 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer respectively. Sandler’s mother, wife, and daughters, Judith, Jacqueline, Sunny, and Sadie Sandler, appear in the film.

Production

Wendi McLendon-Covey joined the cast of the film on July 31, 2013; she played Barrymore's character's best friend, who does not have any children. Chelsea Handler was previously cast in this role.[5] On July 31, 2013, Warner Bros. changed the title from Blended to The Familymoon,[6][7] before reverting to its original title later that year.

Filming

Principal photography for Blended took place in Sun City, South Africa; some scenes were filmed near Lake Lanier, Buford,[8] and Gainesville in Georgia, USA. Warner Bros. co-produced the film with Happy Madison Productions.

Release

The film was distributed by Warner Bros., and released theatrically on May 23, 2014.[7]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 26, 2014.

Reception

Critical response

Blended received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 14% based on 133 reviews with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Lurching between slapstick and schmaltz without showing much of a commitment to either, Blended commits the rare Sandler sin of provoking little more than boredom."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 31 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[11]

A. O. Scott, chief film critic for The New York Times, complained about the film's "retrograde gender politics; its delight in the humiliation of children; its sentimental hypocrisy about male behavior; its quasi-zoological depiction of Africans as servile, dancing, drum-playing simpletons" and concluded "Parents strongly cautioned. It will make your children stupid."[12]

Hitfix declared Blended is “[Not] Adam Sandler's Worst [film]!"[13] Christy Lemire gave the movie 1.5 stars and stated that while this wasn’t Sandler’s best performance, "That actor is in there, somewhere. Perhaps Sandler will actually challenge himself again one of these days and set him free."[14] The National's Jocelyn Noveck said, “To say that the new Adam Sandler movie is better than some of his other recent work isn’t saying much” and gave the movie a single star.[15]

Defending the film for its strong family values, Graham Young of the Birmingham Mail wrote, "It’s warm, funny, tender, serious and, despite a couple of teenage references, decidedly old fashioned. There’s no swearing, no pandering to repeated toilet gags and the ‘gross-out’ market is all but ignored. Instead, there’s lots of genuinely funny slapstick, singing asides and some great kids’ performances."[16]

Box office

As well as being bashed by critics, Blended initially performed poorly at the box office. The film grossed $14,284,031 in its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office behind X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla.[17] Blended is considered to be “one of Adam Sandler’s Worst-Ever Openings" by Cinema Blend.[18]

However, by February 28, 2015, the film had grossed $46,219,290 in North America and roughly $81,800,000 in other territories for a total gross of roughly $128 million, i.e., three times its budget.

Accolades
Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor Adam Sandler Nominated [19]
Worst Actress Drew Barrymore Nominated
Worst Supporting Actor Shaquille O'Neal Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Comedy Blended Nominated [20]
Choice Movie Actor: Comedy Adam Sandler Nominated
Choice Movie Actress: Comedy Drew Barrymore Nominated
Young Artist AwardsBest Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble CastYoung Ensemble CastWon[21]
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Best Supporting ActressEmma FuhrmannNominated

References
  1. "BLENDED". Warner Bros. British Board of Film Classification. March 27, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  2. "Blended (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
  3. "Warner Bros. Announces Title, Release Date for Adam Sandler Romantic Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  4. "Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Comedy Blended Set for May 23, 2014". ComingSoon.net. April 24, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  5. "'Bridesmaids' Actress 'Wendi McLendon-Covey' Joins Adam Sandler Comedy for Warner Bros". thewrap.com. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  6. "Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore Comedy Re-Named 'Familymoon'". Variety. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  7. "Warner Bros' Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore Rom-Com Gets New Name". deadline.com. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  8. "'Blended', starring Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore, will film in Georgia, too". onlocationvacations.com. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  9. "Blended". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  10. "Blended Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  11. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  12. "When Single Parents Collide on a Safari". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  13. "Blended". Hit Fix. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  14. "Blended". Roger Ebert. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  15. "The National". Roger Ebert. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  16. Young, Graham (May 23, 2014). "Movie review: Blended (12A)".
  17. "Blended (2014) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  18. "Blended". Grant Land. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  19. "RAZZIES Celebrate 35 Years of Worst Achievements in Film with Inclusive Nominee List ...and New "Redeemer" Award". Golden Raspberry Award Foundation. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  20. Nordyke, Kimberly (August 10, 2014). "Teen Choice Awards: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  21. "36th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
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