SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: GRANDMA'S BOY

"GRANDMA'S BOY"
(2006) (Allen Covert, Linda Cardellini) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Extreme	Mild	Heavy	Minor	Minor

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Minor	Minor	Moderate	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Extreme	*None	Minor	Moderate	Mild

NOTE:: The following is a rough version of our review that may contain spelling, grammatical and/or factual errors. The final review will be posted soon (20 Century Fox did not screen this film in advance for critics, so we're still working on this and other reviews that also opened "cold" on Friday, January 6th).

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: After getting evicted, a 35-year-old video game tester moves in with his grandmother and her older roommates and must put up with that as well as the reaction of his fellow testers.

PLOT:

Alex (ALLEN COVERT) is a 35-year-old video game tester at Brainasium, the game manufacturer behind the popular "Eternal Death Slayer" series. When he ends up getting evicted from his rental home, he tries staying with fellow tester Jeff (NICK SWARDSON), but that doesn't work out, and it doesn't seem wise to room with Dante (PETER DANTE), his drug dealer.

Accordingly, he begrudgingly moves in with his grandmother Lilly (DORIS ROBERTS) and her two older roommates, sarcastic Grace (SHIRLEY JONES) and prescription pill happy Bea (SHIRLEY KNIGHT), although he lies to Jeff and other testers Barry (JONAH HILL) and Kane (KELVIN YU) that their young, sex-crazed women.

Things look up at work when his new age boss Mr. Cheezle (KEVIN NEALON) hires Samantha (LINDA CARDELLINI) to oversee the latest release of "EDS" from legendary programmer and ultra-nerd J.P. (JOEL DAVID MOORE). As they work to meet their deadline and Alex finds himself falling for Samantha, he must put up with living with the trio of old ladies and their various idiosyncrasies.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Those looking for a "wild' comedy might want to, including younger kids wanting to see more "adult" material.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For drug use and language throughout, strong crude and sexual humor, and nudity.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Considering all that occurs (drug use, profanity, sexual material, etc.), it's doubtful many if any parents would view any of the characters as good role models for kids.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated comedy. Profanity consists of at least 42 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Various instances of sexually related dialogue (covering a variety of topics) is present, as is nudity (a man's bare butt, a woman's bare breast) and sexually related material (implied sex, a guy sucking on a woman's bare breast, a guy masturbating and being caught doing so, a woman doing a sexy dance, etc.).

Many instances of purposeful and accidental drug use are present (with comedy-based results), while some also drink (sometimes a lot). Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Various instances of crude humor (verbal and visual) are present as is footage of video game violence and some brief hitting or striking of others.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: We see a bong and several beers on a table in front of Alex and his roommate.
Alex and Dante share a joint in the latter's place where we see bongs and other drug paraphernalia on the table. Alex then buys some pot from him.
People have champagne at a wedding.
Grace's drinks what looks like wine straight from the bottle.
A running joke has Bea seeming out of it, presumably from all of the prescription pills she takes.
Alex smokes a joint while painting.
Part of Alex's video game is about a demon taking on a "meth lab," with Lilly playing it and saying, "Take that you dirty dopers."
Alex smokes pot from a bong and there's talk of powerful Zimbabwe weed.
Alex does a bong hit in his room at Lilly's house and then hides the pot in a small container on a dresser.
A poster for a video game shows an animated character holding a mug of beer, with wording about the game saying it simulates drunkenness, etc.
Grace drinks wine and commenting on Alex getting Lilly and Bea hooked on the cooking shows on cable TV says that maybe next week he can get them hooked on heroin.
We see that Lilly has arranged Alex's bong as a flower vase (not realizing what it is).
Alex smokes a joint.
Some of the testers complain about there being no booze at a restaurant.
Alex tells Samantha that he was once an accountant, but says he quit because you can't get stoned in that line of work.
We see that Lilly and her two friends have found Alex's pot, believed it to be their former roommate's tea and have brewed it. Accordingly, they're high when Alex, Samantha and some of the testers arrive with some beer (and Grace and Lilly ask for some of that, with the latter guzzling hers down in one gulp). Samantha then asks if Alex has any pot, saying she could really use a joint. We then see that a party has broken out at Lilly's house, with Dante, Alex and Samantha sharing a joint on the porch and Dante commenting on it being of the Frankenstein variety since that's how you'll walk after you've smoked it. Inside, many people drink and/or smoke pot, with Jeff showing he's found a joint that he wants to smoke. Later, everyone is quite high, with some jokes being about Lilly having the "munchies" (with her bringing out lots of food, etc.).
Alex, Samantha and others do tequila shots, with Samantha doing a double one. Seeing that, an African tribesman says, "Someone's getting laid tonight" (referring to Alex).
About the party they just had, Alex states that his grandfather would have had a few beers with them. Lilly states he would have had much more, but then adds that he had a problem with that.
Demonstrating why he suddenly didn't do well in school decades ago, Alex makes a pot smoking gesture.
Upset about J.P. stealing his video game invention, Alex visits Dante and tells him he wants all of the powerful pot rolled into one joint. We then see Alex and Dante sharing the huge joint, with Dante then doing a hit from his bong. Moments later, we see Alex and a chimpanzee playing each other in a video game, but then see that the TV isn't even turned on (meaning Alex and maybe the chimp are that high).
Listening to Mr. Cheezle sounding all mystical, Dante asks where he gets his weed. Mr. Cheezle then reminds him that he gets it from him.
Various people have a champagne toast, with Dante commenting on some "brown" weed that gets you so stoned that you "sh*t your pants."

BLOOD/GORE: Crude humor includes the following:
One guy tells another that if he cleaned out his bong "it wouldn't smell like your girlfriend's ass."
Lilly tells Alex to go "tinkle."
While vacuuming, Alex lifts the sofa and finds various dead and mummified cats under it (all played for laughs but some might not find it funny).
Alex farts in a meeting, prompting Samantha to ask if he's sleeping. Jeff replies that he is and "possibly sh*tting his pants" as well.
Sporting a bad attitude, one of the testers asks a waiter if his restaurant has a bathroom of if he has to "sh*t" in the plant.
There's talk of Bea trying to sell some dog poop at an antiques show.
Jeff comments something about having to pee out of his butt (or something like that) and he keeps acting as if he has to go.
We hear a loud fart from an African tribesman who first tries to pass that off one someone else and then smells the air and states that his "beef" is strong.
We see J.P. crying and snot and/or drool runs down from his nose and/or mouth.
Jeff shows another tester how to make fart sounds by putting his hand into his armpit and then flapping his arm.
Various people have a champagne toast, with Dante commenting on some "brown" weed that gets you so stoned that you "sh*t your pants."

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Alex's landlord says that if Alex and his roommate don't come up with the rent, some thugs will remove their testicles through their anus.
Some jokes are made about Lilly's elderly roommate dying (some viewers might find them in bad taste).
J.P. is condescending to the game testers.
While vacuuming, Alex lifts the sofa and finds various dead and mummified cats under it (all played for laughs but some might not find it funny).
Dante gives Alex an illegal cable converter box.
J.P. dismisses a tester's suggestion about his game and then passes it off as his idea to Samantha.
Some of the testers have bad attitudes toward a waiter and the health food restaurant where he works (for the general nature, not having any booze and despite their boss paying for them).
Grace makes various gay related remarks in Alex's direction (thinking or joking that he's gay when he isn't).
Some viewers may be offended by ethnic stereotypes including an African tribesman, an Asian martial arts expert, etc.
After saying he'd give Alex some notes about the game he's developed, J.P. passes it off as his at work, calling Alex a liar when he protests about that.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: After hearing that Lilly's other roommate fell out of bed and died on the floor in the room where he's now staying, Alex hears creaking floor and then ghostly sounds there (but it turns out to be Lilly playing a practical joke on him).

GUNS/WEAPONS: Some computer-generated weapons are seen in footage from various video games.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Get the f*ck out of here," "Pure f*cking insanity," "Nobody f*cks with a lion," "It's a f*cking sweet car," "Who the f*ck is Johnny?" "You f*cking nerds," "You've got to be f*cking sh*tting me," "It's f*cking crazy," "You're f*cking weird," "F*ck me" (nonsexual), "This sh*t is f*cking crazy," "I almost sh*t my f*cking pants," "Let's f*cking rage," "F*cking psycho," "I f*cking love this girl," "You f*cking freak," "What the f*ck /are you doing here?" "This is bullsh*t," "Your sh*t's weak," "Sh*tting his pants," "Sh*t-lips," "I'm a piece of sh*t," "That's bullsh*t," "I can't believe you came on my mom," "You're not jerking off on my dad," "Stink ass hos," "Boner," "You were a dirty old whore," "You d*ck," "Gray bush" (pubic hair), "Eat it, you whore" (nonsexual), "It wouldn't smell like your girlfriend's ass," "What the hell /is going on/are you doing?" "Dude," "Chill bro," "Shut up," "Balls deep," "My doll's a whore," "You suck," "Adios, turd nuggets," "My bad," "Chick," "Loser," "Take that, you dirty dopers," "Jeez," "Nuts" (crazy), "I suck," "We're screwed," "(This place) sucks," "Sucks to be you, nerd," "Robo-nuts," "Busting my ass" and "Don't judge me, monkey."
The film might inspire some kids to try pot.
J.P. acts as if he has a split personality and often talks in a stereotypical robot voice (and makes various related hand and body movements, etc.).
J.P. dresses like Neo from the "Matrix" movies (dark glasses, long overcoat, etc.).
J.P. gives the game testers "the finger" with both hands in an elaborate, robot move.
Lilly intentionally scares Alex by sounding like a ghost by his bed before jumping up and startling him.
Bea finds Alex's wet paintbrush and licks paint off it.
Lilly belches after guzzling down a beer.
We see a bare midriff on TV.
Miscellaneous people have various tattoos at a party.
Jeff shows another tester how to make fart sounds by putting his hand into his armpit and then flapping his arm.

JUMP SCENES: Lilly intentionally scares Alex by sounding like a ghost by his bed before jumping up and startling him.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A tiny bit of suspenseful music plays in a scene that then turns to comedy.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): A song during the closing credits somewhat recaps what happened in the film and includes various sexual references (including sucking on a "boob") as well as drug-related ones.

PROFANITY: At least 42 "f" words (1 used sexually, as is "nail" and variations of "bang"), 28 "s" words, 8 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck," "c*ck(sucker)" and "pee-pee"), 1 using female ones ("p*ssy"), 2 for breasts (variations of "boob"), 9 asses (2 used with "hole"), 3 hells, 2 craps, 6 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "God" and "Swear to God."

SEX/NUDITY: On several occasions we see scantly clad female video game characters, including one in a small bikini top bottom sashaying by the screen (with one real guy saying to look at her "ass") and another seen in thong-type bottom in a poster for a video game.
We hear that Alex's roommate spent all of the rent money on Filipino hookers (with the roommate saying they're not hookers, but massage therapists, with a bystander jokingly replying "They'll massage your c*ck for money").
Dante answers the door completely nude (a view of his crotch is blocked, but we see a full rear view of him standing there). Later, he sits on his couch nude but again we don't see a crotch view.
Unable to sleep at Jeff's house, Alex gets up, looks around and finds what he was looking for. We then see him in the bathroom masturbating to a female action figure doll. While we don't see the actual act, we see the movement of his arm, his facial expression (and related sounds) and related dialogue (he says "my c*ck is lost in the jungle" and wants her to find it, etc.) as he stares at the doll's plastic bare breast and then turns it over to view its plastic bare butt. Just as he's climaxing, Jeff's mother walks in and Alex spins around, horrified to see her, and frantically apologizes "I can't stop coming" (but we don't see anything related to that). Later, Jeff says, "I can't believe you came on my mom" and "My doll's a whore." The latter prompts Alex to hold up the doll, jokingly spread its legs and act as if he's licking between them.
On various occasions and in various outfits, Samantha shows varying amounts of cleavage.
Talking about Samantha, Alex says, "She wants to bang me."
Young game testers refer to Alex as "gray bush" (meaning his pubic hair), with him replying that at least he has "bush." Talking to Samantha, Jeff says that he has "bush" too but that it's not gray.
When Alex mentions something to Jeff, the latter jokingly replies, "Why, so you can jerk off on my mom?" Later, when Alex asks for a favor, Jeff again jokingly replies, "You're not jerking off on my dad."
When Grace hears that Alex is 35 with no girlfriend, she says her grandson is gay as well and will introduce them.
Jeff blurts out "Let's do it" in front of Samantha. Realizing how that sounded, he says he was referring to testing the game's levels and that he wasn't meaning sex.
Speaking in his robot voice, J.P. suddenly says (after Samantha has left) "Please get on top of me."
Alex burns his hands removing a hot tray from the oven. Later, seeing the bandages on his hand, one of the testers jokingly asks him if "your d*ck was on fire."
Embarrassed about living with his Lilly and her older friends, Alex lies to the other testers about them, making them sound like sexy young women who tied him up, etc. A comment is made about him coming and then one of the guys tells Samantha that Alex is "banging" his roommates.
Alex tells Samantha that she's a hot woman in a sea of virgins (meaning the testers).
Grace tells Alex (thinking or at least joking that he's gay) to go play with his Playgirl magazine.
Lying about his roommates, Alex says they're watching porn and are nymphos.
Jeff makes a sexual comment about Alex.
Acting like Alex on the phone, Jeff jokingly says he hopes an office visitor is "a naked guy with a boner."
With the testers thinking Alex has been talking about Lilly and her older roommates, they hear Grace comment that Alex is "Kind of soft if you know what I mean" and that they rode him hard (said in a nonsexual fashion but taken that way) That disgusts most of them, but when they learn the truth about Lilly being Alex's grandmother, Jeff says that after "coming on my mom is one thing," but having Alex "banging" his grandmother and her friends is legendary.
When a geeky tester comments on a girlfriend, a man at a party asks if by that he means the piece of rabbit fur "you rub on your dick every night," and the tester says yes.
J.P. says that Samantha is "f*cking" Alex.
We see some scantly clad women at a party, including several who appear to be strippers or hookers. That includes one who shows her large bare breasts to one of the geeky testers (Barry), saying, "baby wants some milk" while pulling his head down to her bare breasts. An African tribesman then sees that and makes a hand and mouth gesture of sucking a breast.
Grace tells Jeff that she once gave Charlie Chaplin a "hand job." Jeff wonders if he was silent and Grace jokes, "not when I was done with him." Moments later, she says she had sex with Abbott & Costello, with Jeff wondering which one she "nailed" and she replies both. He then says, "You were a dirty old whore." She then says who says were and then takes his hand and puts it on her clothed breast as both lie down and passionately kiss (all played for comedy).
Alex, Samantha and others do tequila shots, with Samantha doing a double one. Seeing that, an African tribesman says, "Someone's getting laid tonight" (referring to Alex).
We see a stripper straddling and grinding away on a nerd on a sofa, with partial panty views as her short skirt rides up and he tentatively puts his hands on or near her butt.
While intoxicated, Samantha provocatively dances to a song with repeated lyrics of "Push it. Push it real good" as she sashays and thrusts her hips and butt (in tight jeans) for everyone to see (and the men like the view). During this, she grabs and tries to lick her own clothed breast, but falls backwards.
Showing Samantha pictures of Alex as a student, Lilly jokes, "You can see his pee-pee."
We see Barry sucking on the above stripper's bare breast.
We see Jeff and Grace in bed after sex (he's shirtless, she has the sheet pulled over her chest), with him admitting she was his first. She then guesses that he was her three-thousandth something. Hearing that, Jeff rolls over and mutters that he should have worn a condom.
Alex and Samantha briefly but passionately kiss.
We see a large, acrylic type statue of a standing woman who's bent over backwards (we see the non-explicit view of the bare breast and side of bare butt). J.P. then caresses and runs his hand down that body (seen from the side) and then pauses with his hand at its crotch.
Jeff tells some of the other testers about Grace's above comment about giving a "hand job" to Charlie Chaplin. One of the excited testers asks if she invented that. He says no, but that she did invent the finger "in the ass" during a "blow job."
A comment is made about Barry getting his first "booby" at the above party and he says it was for 13 hours.
About Alex, J.P. tells Samantha, "He's just trying to get into your pants."
At the office and after she's been nuzzling on him, Grace and Jeff make out. Later, she asks how much time they have. He says enough to "69," with her sounding excited and saying "Just like Don Knotts."
J.P. says in his computer voice (in Samantha's direction), "Please sit on my face."

SMOKING: Beyond the pot smoking, we didn't note any regular smoking (although it could have occurred during a party scene where background -- and presumably pot-related -- smoking is seen).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Lilly comments that it's nearly the 10th anniversary of her husband's death.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Video games and those who create and test them.
Drug use.
A running joke has Bea seeming out of it, presumably from all of the prescription pills she takes.
Nerdy characters.

VIOLENCE: On various occasions throughout the film we see video game violence, ranging from some brutal boxing punching to demon characters battling each other, with various ones being zapped, knocked around and more, including one being impaled on a vertical pole of some sort.
Alex's landlord throws out Alex and his roommate's bong and it shatters on the sidewalk in front of him and his roommate.
Alex burns his hands removing a hot tray from the oven.
Alex kicks a tester in the shin (we don't see the impact) for talking about him in front of Samantha.
We hear the sounds of a chimpanzee and martial arts master fighting in the upstairs of Dante's place.
Something flies down the stairs and hits Dante in the face (played for comedy and presumably thrown by a chimp).

Reviewed January 6, 2006 / Posted January 6, 2006

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