The funniest thing about the overwhelmingly negative Grown Ups reviews is how disappointed so many of them seem to be about a) how thin its plotlines are, and b) how juvenile its humor is. Which, a) who cares? and b) duh. Both contentions are true, but considering the fact that every single comedy ever made starring a bunch of famous comedians only kind of bothers with plots in order to facilitate each comedian's jokes, that's hardly surprising and hardly a reason to hate the movie. And as for the juvenile comedy, the movie's about man-children -- what do you want from it?

The plot is this: a bunch of comedians we used to like in the 90s (and Kevin James) go to a lake house with their inordinately hot wives (discounting Rob Schneider's "Ew, gross! Old hippie!" wife, which is by far the weakest part of the film's humor) and sit around making fun of each other for a weekend. That is literally it. That's all that happens. Everybody's static, nobody really changes, there's no moral epiphany at the end and there's not even really any conflict to resolve in the story, if you can even call it a story. But you know what? It's actually enjoyable to watch funny people who are genuinely friends interacting with each other onscreen like they probably do in real life. There's something relaxed and easy and honest about it, and they all made me laugh (even Kevin James!) despite myself.

Some bits didn't work, of course, suffering from being way too stupid and/or about old lady bunions, but a lot of it was just the perfect amount of stupid, making me embarrassed to laugh, but making me laugh just the same. There's a scene in which David Spade won't jump into a lake because there's a tiny turtle in it that is seriously one of the inexplicably funniest and dumbest things I have ever seen, for example. Ditto anything involving Rob Schneider's Elvis toupee, Steve Buscemi in a body cast or Kevin James dancing with a bucket on his head. It's one of the least sophisticated comedies I've ever seen, but there is something to be said for simplicity -- and for not being able to help laughing at things that are funny, no matter how highbrow you wish you were.

Did you see Grown Ups? Tell us what you thought! And then examine what the deal is with Adam Sandler's overly literal movie titles, and check out the Grown Ups cast's most grown up roles!

Want to immediately access TWoP content no matter where you are online? Download the free TWoP toolbar for your web browser. Already have a customized toolbar? Then just add our free toolbar app to get updated on our content as soon it's published.