Movie Review: ‘That’s My Boy’
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Columbia Pictures(NEW YORK) — Fresh off of his multiple Razzie Awards for Jack and Jill — and those are awards you don’t want to win — Adam Sandler returns with That’s My Boy, his most offensive, cringe-worthy movie yet. But is it funny? We’ll answer that question in a minute.
We’re all too familiar with the stories of female high school or junior high school teachers who have sex with their students. While this is traumatic for the victims, chances are very good you know some guy who’ll say, “Where was she when I was in school?” And when creating That’s My Boy, Adam Sandler and friends clearly used that concept as the inspiration for their story.
Sandler plays Donny Berger, who impregnates his “hot” junior high school teacher after she repeatedly sexually abuses him, but he’s portrayed as not minding at all. The attention brought about by the story turns Donny into a B-list celebrity, with multiple talk show appearances, a made-for-TV movie in which Ian Ziering plays him, and a rock-and-roll lifestyle which stunts his emotional growth and maturation process. Donny, of course, grows up to be man-child Adam Sandler. Surprise!
Donny isn’t the only victim here. His son, who he named Han Solo, is also a victim, having no choice but to be raised by his horribly unprepared father, since his mother was sentenced to 30 years for her crime. As an adult, Han Solo, played by Andy Samberg, has changed his name to Todd, become a wealthy investment banker and tells everybody who asks that his parents died in an explosion.
But now Donny owes thousands of dollars in back taxes and is dangerously close to going to prison. When he complains about this at a local strip club, one of the dancers recognizes a picture of Han Solo in the newspaper’s wedding section. It seems Little Han is getting married, so guess who’s coming to dinner?
No matter how bad you believe Adam Sandler’s movies are, based on his early work, he always deserves a chance. Some of what you see in That’s My Boy — the cast, the themes, the way he unapologetically insults your intelligence — is of course recycled from his other movies. But that’s O.K., because, while stupid, That’s My Boy still gives us plenty to laugh at. And that will satisfy even the most skeptical Adam Sandler fan.
Three Out Of Five Stars.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio