As Adam Sandler prepares to tee off again inHappy Gilmore 2,another one of his most beloved box office hits has quietly shot back up the leader board — this time, on Netflix.Grown Ups, the 2010 reunion comedy featuring Sandlerand a murderers' row of stand-up comedy royalty, is currently sitting at #9 on Netflix in the U.S., proving there’s still a big audience for fart jokes, friendship, and lakeside shenanigans.
And that’s despite what critics said back in the day.Rotten Tomatoes may have handed it a brutal 10% approval rating, but audiences never cared. The original film brought in over $272 million at the global box office on a $75 million budget — and its 2013 sequel did nearly as well, pulling in $247 million. That’s not just a hit. That’s a franchise with serious legs (even if one of those legs just tripped on a banana peel).Sandler told Collider back in 2010that recapturing his youth was a big appeal of making the movie, which explained why basketball was integral to the plot.
“I grew up playing church league basketball. It was a big part of my town. I thought that, instead of doing a movie about high school, it would be easier if we made it church league basketball kids. That way, when you see them in the past, it’s easier to buy little kids as us, instead of high school kids. Sixth grade was a big time, in my childhood, of hoops and friendship, and coming up with funny things. That’s what the movie is. Our kids are that age. We thought that that’s when it starts. You see the contrast of childhood now, compared to what we were like as kids. So, that’s why I picked the 12-year-old basketball thing.That was a big part of my life.The cast all play a little bit of ball, so we just thought that would be interesting.”
What’s ‘Grown Ups’ About?
If you missed it the first time — or you’re just watching it now for the 10th —Grown Upsfollows a group of childhood friends who reunite after their beloved basketball coach dies. They rent a lake house with their families and, over the Fourth of July weekend, reconnect through old stories, bad decisions, and plenty of slapstick chaos. It’s the kind of movie where someone gets hit in the crotch every 15 minutes, and someone else learns a life lesson (sometimes both at the same time).
Sandler stars alongsideMaya Rudolph,Salma Hayek,Maria Bello,Kevin James,Chris Rock,David Spade,andRob Schneiderrounding out the cast. Directed by longtime Sandler collaboratorDennis Dugan,Grown Upswas the rare film that felt like it was just as much fun to make as it was to watch.
Grown Upsis on Netflix now.
