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A. O. Scott in the New York Times says "Blended," Adam Sandler's latest self vehicle with w Barrymore, "will make your children stupid." His lede:
Because life is short and I have other things to be upset about, I will not dwell on the offensive aspects of “Blended,” the new Adam Sandler comedy: its retrograde gender politics; its delight in the humiliation of children; its sentimental hypocrisy about male behavior; its quasi-zoological depiction of Africans as servile, dancing, drum-playing simpletons; its ... I’m sorry. That’s just what I said I wouldn’t do.
The politically correct scold in me — though I prefer the phrase “thinking human being” — may object to all those lapses and more like them, but in my capacity as a film critic, I find myself more bothered by the sheer audience-insulting incompetence of the filmmaking and the writing
The reviews nationally are so bad that stories were done just on that. At Rotten Tomatoes, it gets 14% on the TomatoMeter. Weekend box office? Poor to embarrassing. But Gary Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times? His review is a blurb-worthy West Coast happy face. His lede:
It could have been a bit smarter and a lot shorter, but "Blended," the third big-screen pairing for Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore (after "The Wedding Singer" and "50 First Dates"), is a fun, often funny, largely enjoyable romp. The trick: Manage your expectations.
