day 23 - Grandma's Boy

OK film fans, Saturday is here and I'm in full veg mode. Since I'm rapidly losing the capacity for complex thought let's keep this simple. A couple of weeks ago I posted my Top 5 Comatose Monday Night Films in which I professed my adoration for stoner flicks and their ability to clear your mind without having to inhale illegal substances. I realize that in this list I managed to leave out an all time favorite, resplendent in both its stoner humor and willingness to completely ignore the boundaries of good taste.

Grandma's Boy is a recent addition to the stoner genre written and staring Allen Covert, an actor recognizable to fans of Adam Sandler films. Covert met Sandler in college at NYU and has been a part of 14 of his films. This fact alone should inform you that we are not entering highbrow country, but every once in a while you need these types of films. I had this conversation with a friend where I made the analogy of films being like food. Some are like low energy dense foods that are good for you, while some are high energy dense foods that are filled with calories and give you a quick boost. We all crave something sweet or salty, a piece of pie or a burger, that we know will be bad for us. Salads and broiled chicken are great, but every now and then you crave some bacon. Believe me, this movie is a foot-long bacon-chili-cheese dog with a side of fries.

Alex has left his accounting job and at 35, has become the oldest (he's called "Gray Bush" by his co-workers) video game tester at Brainasium, but he's also the best. When his roommate fails to pay the rent for six months because he's spent every last cent at Madame Wu's Filipino Palace ("They're not hookers, they're massage therapists!"), Alex finds himself on the street. His friend Jeff (Nick Swardson) agrees to put him up, until an unfortunate accident involving Alex and an action figure in the bathroom…which Jeff's mom happens to, well, catch. Alex's last resort is to move in with, as he tells his friends, three hot babes.

He actually is living with his sweet and loving 70-year-old grandma Lilly (Doris Roberts), along with her two roommates: the "been there, done that repeatedly" septuagenarian Grace (Shirley Jones) and the not-quite-all-there, overly medicated Bea (Shirley Knight). Throw in his wacked-out of his gourd dealer Dante (Peter Dante), hot gaming exec Samantha (Linda Cardellini) and his arch nemesis, game designer J.P. (Joel David Moore) and you get a film filled with opportunities to act stupid. Happily, it more than lives up to our expectations, which are decidedly low.