That's My Boy (2012 film)

That's My Boy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sean Anders
Produced by	Adam Sandler Allen Covert Jack Giarraputo Heather Parry
Written by	David Caspe
Starring	Adam Sandler Andy Samberg
Music by	Rupert Gregson-Williams
Cinematography	Brandon Trost
Editing by	Tom Costain
Studio	Happy Madison Productions Relativity Media
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 4, 2012 (2012-06-04) (Los Angeles premiere) June 15, 2012 (2012-06-15) (United States)
Running time	114 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70 million[2][3]
Box office	$57,719,093[3]

That's My Boy^[4] is a 2012 American comedy film starring Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg. The script was written by David Caspe and directed by Sean Anders.

The film is about a man named Donny Berger, an alcoholic slacker who has a son named Han Solo Berger but changed his name to Todd Patterson due to his embarrassment from his father, who owes $43,000 in back taxes to the IRS or he is put to jail for 3 years. Meanwhile, Todd is getting married to Jamie Martin, so he has the weekend to pay the taxes before it's too late.

The film was produced by Sandler's production company Happy Madison and shot in the Massachusetts area.^[5] It was released on June 15, 2012,^[6][7] and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, it is considered as one of worst films ever made and was nominated for eight Golden Raspberry Awards, ultimately winning in the categories of Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay. It was a subject of controversy and criticism due to its comedic portrayal of pedophilia, incest, gerontophilia and statutory rape.^[8] It is Sandler's seventh R-rated film for the Motion Picture Association of America. The film is widely regarded as a flop, with its box office gross of $57.7 million worldwide failing to reimburse its budget of $70 million.

Plot

In 1984, 13-year-old Donny Berger begins a sexual relationship with his teacher, Mary McGarricle (Eva Amurri Martino). When the two are discovered engaging in sexual activity on a piano during an assembly, she is sentenced to a lengthy prison term where it is revealed she is pregnant. Donny is left to raise their son, who he names Han Solo Berger.

By 2012, Donny (Adam Sandler) is an alcoholic slacker who spends his time with his friends, bartender Brie (Ciara) and stripper Champale (Luenell). Donny is estranged from his son, who, embarrassed by Donny's immaturity, has changed his name to Todd Peterson (Andy Samberg) and managed to become a successful businessman. He has recently arrived at the Cape Cod house of his boss, where he is to be married to his fiancee, Jamie Martin (Leighton Meester).

Donny learns from his lawyer, Jim Nance (Rex Ryan), that he owes $43,000 to the IRS in back-taxes and will be imprisoned for three years if he doesn't repay the money by the end of the weekend. He visits TV producer Randall Morgan (Dan Patrick), who had produced shows for Donny during his brief period of celebrity, and Morgan offers him $50,000 if he can organize a reunion with Todd and Mary McGarricle at the women's prison.

Donny arrives at Cape Cod to try to convince Todd to participate. Because he had previously told people that his parents had died, Todd introduces Donny as an old friend; Donny elaborates with a heroic backstory and, despite his extremely crude demeanor, quickly becomes well-liked by the others, at the expense of Todd's popularity. Donny tries to convince Todd to come to the women's prison to see his mother, without revealing that it is for a TV show, but he refuses. Todd fights constantly with Donny about his father's immaturity, both now and during his childhood. Donny admitted he was wrong for his actions and should've stopped himself. However, he didn't know how to be a father because Donny's own father didn't teach him how to be one.

After spending more time with Donny, Todd soon imitates his father's behavior, ultimately having the wedding rehearsal at the church cancelled by engaging in a fist fight with Father McNally (James Caan), the parish priest, accidentally exposing himself to be a theistic Satanist during the incident. Donny saves him from further embarrassment by convincing the in-laws to move the wedding rehearsal to a different location because Todd is still recovering from the explosion in a church that his parents died in when he was young.

Donny joins Todd and his friends at Todd's bachelor party, a relaxing day at a spa. However, Donny offends the employees and guests and eventually convinces the guys to attend a strip club where Todd bonds with Brie. The group gets drunk and high and commits various acts of debauchery. Over the course of the evening, Todd bonds with his father and agrees to meet his mother (Susan Sarandon) at the prison. Donny, knowing that a TV crew will be waiting, tries to stop the meeting from happening, but Todd goes to the prison anyway. Todd, Donny, and Mary are ambushed by the film crew and a disgusted Todd leaves without signing a release form, leaving Donny without any money.

Donny overhears Jamie on the phone saying that she has been having sex with Todd's boss, Steve Spirou. He tries to warn Todd, but Jamie comes up with a convincing cover story. Later, Donny discovers Jamie having sex with her younger brother, Chad (Milo Ventimiglia) at a hotel room. Realizing that she could lose Todd if Donny tells him about her sexual affair with both Chad and Steve, she pays him the money he needs in order to keep him quiet.

After receiving a conciliatory present from Todd, an oven mitt he used to cheer him up when he was younger, Donny decides that in spite of Jamie's hush money, he has to stop the wedding and teams up with his friend from his brief celebrity days, Vanilla Ice. At the ceremony he reveals himself to be Todd's father and rips up Jamie's check. He forces her to admit her infidelity to Todd. Jamie reluctantly does confess by whispering in his ear about her sexual relationships with both his boss and Chad. A disgusted Todd breaks up with Jamie and calls off the wedding. He then tells his boss that he quits his job, acknowledging Donny as his father and even taking back his birth name of Han Solo Berger.

The following day at the strip club, Han reveals that he is dating Brie and offers Donny the money to help pay for the unpaid taxes. However, he refuses Han's offer, stating that it's time for him to grow up and accept responsibility for his own actions. Donny is preparing to go to prison and rekindle his relationship with Mary, when a bet he placed wins him enough money to satisfy the IRS. The film ends with Donny and Han celebrating with the rest of their friends.

Cast

• Adam Sandler as Donald 'Donny' Berger.
• Justin Weaver as 1984 Donny Berger
• Ian Ziering as TV Donny
• Andy Samberg as Todd Peterson/Han Solo Berger, Donny's son
• Leighton Meester as Jamie Martin, Todd's fiancee
• Susan Sarandon as Mary McGarricle, Donny's middle school teacher and Todd's mother.
• Eva Amurri Martino as 1984 Mary McGarricle. Martino is Sarandon's real-life daughter.
• Ciara as Brie, a bartender and Donny's friend, Todd's secondary love interest
• Luenell as Champale, a stripper and Brie's mother
• Vanilla Ice as himself, Donny's best friend
• Milo Ventimiglia as Chad Martin, Jamie's younger brother who is a modern jazz dancer posing as a Marine
• Rex Ryan as Jim Nance
• Peggy Stewart as Grandma Delores
• Tony Orlando as Steve Spirou, Todd's boss
• Alan Thicke as Donny's father on TV
• James Caan as Father McNally
• Dan Patrick as Randall Morgan
• Will Forte as Phil
• Rachel Dratch as Phil's wife
• Blake Clark as Gerald
• Colin Quinn as Strip Club DJ
• Nick Swardson as Kenny
• Ana Gasteyer as Mrs. Ravensdale
• Todd Bridges as himself
• Baron Davis as Gym teacher
• Dennis Dugan as School janitor
• Jackie Sandler (Sandler's real-life wife) as Masseuse
• Brad Grunberg as Tubby Tuke

Production

The film was originally titled I Hate You, Dad, and then changed to Donny's Boy before the producers finally settled on That's My Boy.^[4][9] Filming began and wrapped around 2011.

Promotion

A red-band trailer was released on March 1, 2012.^[7] A green-band trailer was later released on March 5, 2012. On June 1, 2012, the whole cast sat down with MTV on the City Walk stage to discuss the film, their individual upcoming projects and also participated in a Q&A with the audience. The film was also promoted through the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, where Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, and Leighton Meester were presenters for Best Kiss.

A spoof trailer was posted by Samberg on The Lonely Island's YouTube account on June 1, 2012.^[10]

Reception

Box-office

The film opened on June 15, 2012, grossing $13,453,714 in its opening weekend, ranking #4 behind the second weekends of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Prometheus, and the opening of Rock of Ages.^[11] This was Sandler's worst opening weekend since Reign Over Me in 2007,^[12] which had a significantly lower budget.

As of November 24, 2012, the film has grossed $36,931,089 domestically and $57,719,093 worldwide and failing to recoup its $70 million budget making it a box office flop.^[3]

Critical reception

Reviews for That's My Boy were very negative. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "rotten" score of 20% based on reviews from 112 critics, with an average rating of 3.4/10. The consensus states, "While it does represent a new foray into raunch for the normally PG-13 Sandler, That's My Boy finds him repeating himself to diminishing effect – and dragging Andy Samberg down with him."^[13] Metacritic gives it a weighted average score of 31% based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[14][15] Online review show Half in the Bag called the film "pathetic", it went on to criticize Sandler as a comic, including his inability to create real humor that isn't based on childish jokes.^[16] Bob Fishbach from the Omaha World Herald gave the film one out of four stars, saying it was "...worse than Sandler's previous stinker, Jack and Jill."^{[citation needed]} Richard Roeper gave the film an "F" rating, calling it "an ugly, tasteless, deadly and mean-spirited piece of filmmaking,” while Alonso Duralde gave the film a scathing review, calling it "vulgar, trite, sexist, misogynist, hacky, tacky, gross, sentimental and stupid, with occasional flourishes of racism and veiled homophobia thrown in to boot."^[17]

The film has been criticized for its comedic portrayal of statutory rape, pedophilia, and incest.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]}

Accolades

Home media

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released That's My Boy on DVD and Blu-ray on October 16, 2012.

References

External links

• That's My Boy at the Internet Movie Database
• That's My Boy at allmovie
• That's My Boy at Box Office Mojo
• That's My Boy at Rotten Tomatoes
• That's My Boy at Metacritic
• That's My Boy on Facebook