The War with Grandpa (2020)

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Flack
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The War with Grandpa (2020)

Post by Flack »

After a self-checkout incident that leads to a minor injury, widower and grandpa Ed (Robert Di Nero) is cajoled into moving in with his daughter and her husband (Uma Thurman and Rob Riggle). To make room for Grandpa, twelve-year-old Peter's bedroom is relocated to the attic against his wishes. To get his room back, Peter declares war on Grandpa and the two trade escalating pranks until the situation inevitably spirals out of hand.

When I was twelve years old I would have loved to move into our attic, away from parents and noise. The only reason Peter gives for not wanting to move into the attic is because "that's where people put things to forget about them," and nobody ever asks Grandpa if he would prefer the attic, or share the room with Peter. When Grandpa receives a written declaration of war from his grandson, instead of calling some sort of family meeting, he agrees to a battle of subterfuge with his own grandson. What begins as fairly harmless pranks quickly turn mean spirited. By the second or third round of pranks, Peter has demolished his grandpa's collection of marbles that he collected throughout his entire life and career; in return, grandpa logs into Peter's "Minecraft" account and destroys the town he's been building for the past three years.

The real problem with this movie are the changes in tone. We go from a constant stream of pranks to Grandpa listening to records while holding a picture of his deceased wife and staring out the window. The movie culminates in a ten-minute action/disaster sequence, followed by a monologue about the escalation, futility, and cost of war... from the twelve year old.

Grandpa's band of pals includes Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymore, and while it made me a little sad to see some of them cast as senior senior citizens, at least their scenes weren't terrible. As much as I liked De Niro's Grandpa, at some point you have to ask yourself why he doesn't act like an adult and call an end to the "war."

The War with Grandpa was set to be released in 2017 and has been pushed back multiple times. A third quarter 2020 release feels more like a tax write off than a proper release.
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Flack
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Re: The War with Grandpa (2020)

Post by Flack »

"I failed a savings throw and now I am back."

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Tdarcos
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Re: The War with Grandpa (2020)

Post by Tdarcos »

I can sum it up in 9 words: Mr Focker of Meet the Fockers vs. Home Alone. Only this time the kid is the burglar.
Alan Francis wrote a book containing everything men understand about women. It consisted of 100 blank pages.

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