The War with Grandpa

 

During this pandemic, with all the fear, stress, and losses we have endured, we certainly need a number of comedies to lighten our load. Will comedies, or movies for that matter eliminate our problems and issues? No, but they can take us to another place and/or time and allow us to escape for an hour and a half or two hours. Such as the case with "The War with Grandpa", it pits a kid against his grandpa in, who is going to keep the kids' room after the kid is forced to leave to make room for grandpa? 

Peter (Oakes Fegley) and his grandpa, Ed (Robert De Niro) used to be very close, but when Ed moves in with the family, his daughter, Sally (Uma Thurman) and son-in-law, Arthur (Rob Riggle), Peter is forced to give up his most prized possession: his bedroom. Peter will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends including Billy (Juliocesar Chavez) and Steve (Isaac Kragten) to devise a series of pranks to drive him out. However, grandpa doesn't give up easily, and, with his friends including Danny (Cheech Marin) and Jerry (Christopher Walken), it turns into an all-out war between the two. Which one will win: old school or new school?

Others to round out the cast are Laura Marano as Mia, Jane Seymour as Diane, Poppy Gagnon as Jennifer, T.J. McGibbon as Emma and Colin Ford as Russell.

This was effectively directed by a filmmaker that has certainly directed light-hearted fare as a common staple, Tim Hill ("Muppets from Space" '99, "Max Keeble's Big Move" '01, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" '06, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" '07, "Hop" '11, "Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever" (TV movie) '14, "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run" '20) plus TV and a short. With his light-hearted fare, this filmmaker has used quite the variety of formats to convey his films: live action, animated and live action with animation combined. He is certainly no stranger to this kind of fare, and with that he stays with what he knows best. The chemistry between De Niro and Fegley showed us their tenacity, but, at the same time, they loved one another since they were family. Sure, this wasn't an acting stretch for De Niro, but Fegley certainly wasn't upstaged and this is effective directing. It was written by writing team, Tom J. Astle ("Bejewelled" (TV movie) '91, "Elmopalooza" (TV movie) '98, "Failure to Launch" '06, "Get Smart" '08, "Epic" '13, "Home" '15) plus TV and videos, and Matt Ember ("The Dan Show" (TV movie) '03, "Failure to Launch" '06, "Get Smart" '08, "Epic" '13, "Home" '15) plus TV. While these writers have had questionable screenplays, this film is certainly an improved script with a more coherent storyline. Their "Get Smart" and "Failure to Launch" were dismal at best, especially "Get Smart". The premises of their films certainly have interesting ideas, however as they unfold, they typically become choppy and incoherent grappling to find a story. I believe their turn around film was "Epic". While it wasn't great, it was a vast improvement to its predecessors. This film has proven that with practice becomes perfect. Is this film great? No, but it flowed much better than I have seen them perform. And hey, how bad could this be with the likes of veteran actors, De Niro, Walken, Seymour and Marin? 

In this day and age, comedies and other entertaining film fare are more important now than ever. With all that's going on, I was able to go to the theater and escape into a very family-oriented film for an hour and a half and simply laugh, which is something we all need more of. Also, I beseech all who love films to go see a film or two in the actual theater (as opposed to Netflix or U-tube). I have been to many films in theaters, and they are safe as safe can be. The only difference I've experienced is that I must wear a mask. That's it! And the theaters need the business so they can continue to provide that movie-going experience for us all. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                           Rated: PG                                                 94mins.