Common Sense Media Review
Absolutely dreadful and offensive comedy.
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Grandma's Boy
What's the Story?
GRANDMA'S BOY is a 13-year-old boy's fantasy come to life. Not only is Alex (Allen Covert) a video game tester (which means he gets to spend all day, every day playing video games) but he's also designing his own gruesome game. When Alex is kicked out of his apartment because his roommate spent six months' rent on Filipino prostitutes, Alex bounces from his drug-dealer friend to his infantilized coworker (complete with footie pajamas) until he finally moves in with his grandmother, played with zest by Everyone Loves Raymond's Doris Roberts.
Is It Any Good?
Just because this movie is a teenager's dream of sex, drugs, and video games doesn't mean teenagers should watch it. The movie wants the viewer to be in on the joke --- it's a hipster's idea of geekiness, where the geek gets the surgically-enhanced hot blonde at the party. The problem is that the joke is lame. Grandma's Boy throws every pop culture cliché at you: self-consciously politically-incorrect portrayals of ethnic characters and women, repeated reference to hookers, gory video games, karaoke, Matrix spoofs, work humor, pot humor, sex humor.
Aside from that, there's really not much plot. More than anything, this is another overly long Saturday Night Live sketch. The movie, much like the main character, drifts aimlessly from party to party, with a tacked-on happy ending and surprisingly sweet romance between Alex and Samantha (Freaks and Geeks' Linda Cardellini). Some of the party behavior seems true-to-life, like the drunken karaoke singing, but that's not enough of a reason to watch this movie -- especially with so many reasons not to. This movie is best viewed by adults.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about raunchy comedies. What's appealing about them?
How does this kind of humor affect how kids think about dating, sex, work, and drugs? How would they handle these situations in real life?
What's the difference between the way Alex exaggerates to impress his friends and the way he is in his relationship with Samantha?
Movie Details
- In theaters : May 9, 2006
- On DVD or streaming : May 9, 2006
- Cast : Jonah Hill , Kevin Nealon , Linda Cardellini
- Director : Nicolas Goosen
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 94 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : nudity, drugs, profanity, adult themes
- Last updated : November 2, 2022
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