Grandma's Boy

  • Review Date: May 22, 2006
  • R
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2006
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Absolutely dreadful and offensive comedy.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie glorifies drugs and prostitution, as well as immature, antisocial behavior. Characters frequently talk about sex and hookers. In one scene, the main character masturbates to orgasm in front of a Laura Craft doll and is caught by another character's mother. In another, a guy sucks on the breast of a half-naked woman for hours. There is also a big party where everyone, including the grandmother, gets drunk. Some characters are portrayed in an ethnically-insensitive manner.

  • Most women in the movie are treated as sex objects, though one of the main characters is a strong woman. Drugs are used openly.
  • There's no one here you want your child to emulate.
  • All violence is in the video games the characters create.
  • A lot of talk of "getting laid," a guy fondles and kisses a woman's bare breast, explicit discussion of sexual positions.
  • Explicit discussions about sex, "gay" is used as a derogatory word, the "p" word is used to refer to an elderly woman's vagina.
  • Ten different brands are displayed prominently in the movie.
  • Constant pot smoking and frequent drinking.

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.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

  • 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?


This review of Grandma's Boy was written by
Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Awful!
This movie is terrible. It is pushing R rating! I should be rated X! It shows a man sucking on a woman's boob for hours! eew! It also has lots of profanity drug use sexual content and lots of language!

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Teen, 16 years old
October 3, 2010
 
Great Movie
If you like adam sandler type movies and video games. see this. it was very funny, even if it had no plot. There is one topless girl, and no sex is shown. and the bathroom scene. there is a ton of language, drinking and smoking. Great movie though
What other families should know:

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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 
A treat for gamers
This movie is about being male, middle class, and white. And video games. Its not as explicit as the 40 year old virgin, but it isnt for children. I'd say its for kids 14+.

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Adult
June 29, 2009
 
A failed attempt at a funny stoner comedy
Grandma's Boy is a failed attempt at a funny hard R, stoner comedy. It has almost everything you need; pot, drinking, nudity, and sex jokes. It just lacks one crucial thing, humor. Throughout the whole movie, the only thing I chuckled at was the Lara Croft doll scene. Nowhere else did the movie even make me smirk. It also doesn't help that you're either highly irritated or bored by the characters. I have nothing against drugs and sex in movies, but here it just isn't funny. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone and suggest that instead, they watch Harold&Kumar 1 and 2, Pineapple Express, the Friday series, How High, Half Baked, Cheech&Chong, or Dazed and Confused. All those movies are funnier then this. Parents should know that pretty much everybody drinks to excess and smokes marijuana in this movie. There is typical R-rated language (f**k, p***y, s**t and others). There is a scene of masturbation, and references to 69, hand-jobs, foursomes, filipino hookers, and a lot of other things. A 30-some year old man has sex with an old lady. There are naked breasts (not the old ladies) and one person sucks on them throughout an entire night. In closing, Grandma's Boy just isn't worth your time or money.

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Teen, 17 years old
August 22, 2009
 
this movie is good with some sexual content, bad language, nudity, and drug content that makes it innopropriate.
What other families should know:

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Teen, 13 years old
January 30, 2009
 
Basicly an advertisment of drugs.
This is probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen to put it lightly.

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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
I lost six brain cells watching this, SCORE!
this is my alltime favorite movie, my mom watched it with me, and she laughed so hard she cried... not many kids can say that this movie was hilarious and you should deffinately watch it

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Adult
March 25, 2013
 
great movie ages 13-adult
great movie lots of drug use sexual content hilarious although i wouldnt reccomend letting children under 13 watch it
What other families should know:

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This review of Grandma's Boy was written by
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:Nicolas Goosen
Cast:Jonah Hill, Kevin Nealon, Linda Cardellini
Genre:Comedy
Run time:94 minutes
Theatrical release date:May 9, 2006
DVD release date:May 9, 2006
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:nudity, drugs, profanity, adult themes

This review of Grandma's Boy was written by
 

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