Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"I'm thinking about getting metal legs. It's a risky operation, but it'll be worth it."

2006 R / Video Game Comedy Directed by: Nicholaus Goossen Starring: Allen Covert, Linda Cardellini, Joel Moore

Tagline

A movie that proves you're never too old to come of age.

Summary Capsule

Video game tester moves in with his grandma; they say "yes" to drugs.

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Amazon.com: DVD | Amazon.com: Soundtrack

Justin's Rating: True story - there was a time in my life I tried to get people to call me "J.D." instead of Justin. Obviously took well.
Justin's Review: [Rodney Dangerfield on] Listen, video gamers don't get no respect. No respect at all! [Dude, you don't really even like Rodney, so why are you doing this?] [I couldn't think of a better way of starting this review, so shut it!] [Oh, I didn't know I was going to be present for a whine tasting.] [Grr…]

"Face it: video games, and gamers, are here to stay, and we've taken over the world."

Anyway, it's true. It's a twisted turn of our society that grown men watching other overweight grown men grunt over a misshapen ball every Sunday afternoon is seen to be acceptable and not at all weird, but the hobby of millions of video gamers is still the snickering asides of many. Face it: video games, and gamers, are here to stay, and we've taken over the world. Join us, or move out of the way, grandma.

Er. I guess grandma's joined us.

Filmed with the leftover remnants of Adam Sandler's movies, Grandma's Boy scoops up the many cameos and life-long Sandler buddies to tell the story of a video gamer, his grandma, and a whole lot of weed. I could've done without the hour-long presentation on "Why reefers are cool and why any self-respecting comedy needs to feature people lighting up nowadays", but the rest is surprising gold.

Alex (Allen Covert) is a mid-30's amiable dude who seems to have the ideal bachelor life: he plays games at home, and then goes to work and gets paid to do the same. Sure, the top video game programmer J.P. (Joel Moore) lives in a fantasy world of his own trappings and Alex's boss (Kevin Nealon) is a hippie, but Alex is a king in his own right. That is, until he gets booted from his house for failing to pay rent and has to go live with his grandma (Everyone Loves Raymond's Doris Roberts) and her two elderly roommates.

Watching this movie, I couldn't help but feel the invisible strings of Adam Sandler manipulating this whole endeavor. Not only is this put out by Happy Madison Productions, but every other character in this film has played various cameo roles in Sandler's films (although I expected Sandler to appear for a cameo as well… but nothing doing). Grandma's Boy even has the off-kilter crazyness of a Sandler flick - 25% funny, 50% weird, and 24% gross. The 1% is for love, baby. I suppose all this is a good thing; the movie never gets too wildly offensive, nor does it get mean or depressing. The good guys get to make jokes and come out on top, and the nemesis is foiled by a dottering senior citizen.

Aside from a mid-movie party scene that goes on for about two hours too long (perhaps because I was watching the unrated version of the film), Grandma's Boy stays snappy and fun the whole way through. The grandma in question is a hoot (particularly what she does to Alex on his first night), J.P. gets to be hysterically dorky (we've ALL known people like this), and video games aren't treated as a joke, but as a matter-of-fact part of life. If I were prone to puns - and I am - I'd say to click [SECOND PLAYER START] and join in the fun.

I Want To Put On My My My My My Boogie Shoes Al, Kyle and Drew doing "research" for a new article. "Shoot Raymond! Shoot Raymond!"

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• Kung Fu Monkey. Yes.
• Lions don't work well for home security.
• People 100 years old don't have microwaves.
• That frog game for Atari 2600! No, not Frogger, the other one!
• When Alex tells Jeff to "Shut up" when he spends the night at his house, it was to keep him from ad-libbing even further about his sweet car bed.
• When Alex comes out of Samantha's office J.P. is standing facing the wall and you can see a poster that says Gay Robot, a TV-series written by Nick Swardson (Jeff) and a character from a sketch of the same name from Adam Sandler's 2004 comedy album "Shh... Don't Tell". There is also a small poster for "Gay Robot" on the shelf behind the desk in Mr. Cheezel's office.
• When J.P. is telling Mr. Cheezle about Demonik , Mr. Cheezle tells him it's "very Miyamoto." He's making a reference to Shigeru Miyamoto, a ground-breaking and award-winning game designer for Nintendo who created Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Zelda.
• The sound that is heard when the doors open and close to JP's office are the same sound clips that were used in the video game Doom.
• The "Lara Croft" doll is a Barbie doll with minor changes.
• There are references to and posters for "Dance Dance Revolution (Ultramix 2)," "Resident Evil 4," "Metal Gear Solid," "Super Mario Bros.," "Battlefield 2","The Legend of Zelda", "Fight Night: Round 2," "Guilty Gear X2" "Halo" & "Halo 2", "Lineage 2" and "City of Heroes".
• The scene where J.P. opens the sushi box is a reference to Molly Ringwald's lunch in The Breakfast Club.
• Jeff calls Alex "Douche Bigalow", a reference to Deuce Bigalow, a Rob Schneider character. Schneider makes a cameo early in the film as Alex's landlord.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

The beginning and the credits of the movie features the classic game Galaga.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

The original title of the film was "Nana's Boy" and in the scene when Samantha and Alex are taking shots of tequila Samantha says, "What's the matter Nana's boy? Can't hang?"

Alex is driving such a crappy car because the production was running low on money when it came time to get a car for his character.

The video game featured in the movie, Demonik, was to be an actual video game that was to be released for the Xbox 360. The project was canceled when the production company Majesco Entertainment ran into financial troubles.

Groovy Quotes

Grandma Lilly: I hate violence, but drugs ARE bad.

Alex: My grandma drank all my pot.
Jeff: That's awesome.
Alex: What?
Jeff: I mean, how many people can say that in a lifetime?

Alex: Wow J.P., that is a great outfit. How much do clothes cost in The Matrix?
J.P.: So funny I forgot to laugh.

J.P.: All I've ever cared about was video games and they made me a millionaire. So maybe I don't know what the Civil War was, or who invented the helicopter even though I own one, but I did beat The Legend of Zelda before I could walk. I'm thinking about getting metal legs. It's a risky operation, but it'll be worth it.

J.P.: [In robot voice] I am a geeenius!

Alex: Dude, your bed is a car...
Jeff: Yeah, but it's a f**king sweet car.

Jeff: What's up Douche Bigalow?
Alex: Hey Speed Racer. Did you valet your bed?

J.P.: [about the music] Are you afraid of it?
Kane: No, I just don't like techno.
J.P.: You would if you had robot ears.

DDR Machine: A NEW HIGH SCORE!
Jeff: [to Bobby, the defeated co-worker] What does "high score" mean? New high score, is that bad? What does that mean? Did I break it?

Grace: [as Bea and Lilly are transfixed by the Food Network] Thanks, Alex. Maybe tomorrow you can introduce them to heroin.

Jeff: Who wants to hear about my STD from the silent film era?

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Wizard
• Billy Madison
• The Last Starfighter