The War with Grandpa

Starring: Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Oakes Fegley, Rob Riggle, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, Christopher Walken, Juliocesar Chavez, Isaac Kragten, Poppy Gagnon, Faizon Love
Directed by: Tim Hill
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A boy (Oakes Fegley) decides to start a prank war with his grandpa (Robert De Niro) after the older man is forced to move in with them and takes over his room.

Review:

Tim: It's honestly a bit challenging to know what to say about this movie. It's definitely aimed at kids, but it embraces that a little too much, sacrificing quality in the name of demographic targeting. It boasts a surprisingly strong cast, but the story fails to live up to expectations. The movie isn't bad, but it's never as effective as it could have been.

I know the movie is adapted from a children's book. I've never read it, so it's hard to know if part of the issue is with the source material, or the way it was adapted. I can't say I really loved the concept of the film. A boy and his grandpa engage in a prank war without letting the rest of the family know. It's a unique concept, but an odd one. Some of the pranks are legitimately mean. The whole idea of a senior citizen pranking his grandson, and versa, a boy playing dangerous tricks on his elderly grandfather, that just doesn't sit right. Some of the pranks are legitimately funny, but others feel like they cross a line. It felt like I needed to have a conversation with my 8 year-old son about how playing pranks like this is actually very unkind and that it's a movie, not something to emulate in real life. It feels like Tim Hill's film is a bit callous in its portrayal of this prank war.

Speaking of Hill, I've only seen a couple of his films, but this one feels very much in line with Hop. Both movies are okay, but feel like they were purposely deflated for younger audiences. There's a way to tell a story that appeals to all ages, but Hill seems to have no idea how to do this. Everything is dumbed down a bit too much, or played up to too high of an extreme. This movie needed a bit more subtlety, a bit more restraint. You can still make an appealing kids' movie without losing all credibility.

I have to admit, I'm quite surprised how many effective actors this film managed to pull into this. Robert De Niro has the biggest role. He's such an accomplished actor, he brings some of that to the role. His performance isn't bad- there's a few nuanced moments he has that are actually quite powerful. De Niro absolutely elevates this material, even as you feel sad that he's saddled with such a lackluster film around him. Oakes Fegley was solid in the protagonist role. I didn't always believe his performance, but it works far more often than it doesn't. It was fun seeing Uma Thurman here. She gets a few nice moments throughout the film, even if the role is just "mom" and relegated the sidelines. Thurman doesn't make movies very often, so it always feels like a bit of a treat when you get to see her. Rob Riggle provides some solid supporting work in the "dad" role. I loved that Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour all had supporting roles, too. Their considerable talent does feel a bit wasted, but it was still great fun to see them. The highlight might be the dodgeball scene. I certainly never expected to watch a movie where De Niro, Walken, Marin, and Seymour are playing trampoline dodgeball against a group of kids. Wonders never cease. This is probably the main appeal of the film for those outside the youngest demographics. The movie might not be good, but you get to see a lot of good actors in it.

The War with Grandpa definitely has some foundational problems and I don't think Hill did it a lot of favors with his direction. It's never a bad movie, but it's constantly disappointing. Kids will probably like it- my son enjoyed it. He wasn't raving about it, but he was certainly entertained. For me, my feelings were more complex. I felt some level of sadness, that so many older, experienced actors were spending their twilight years making movies like this. I did feel some level of enjoyment- there's actually several pranks that were pretty much laugh-out-loud funny. I didn't expect that. I also felt some level of frustration, that this movie could have been better and the cast deserved a better film around them. This movie is okay, but it's discouraging to see the level of quality given some legitimate strengths the film had. Kids need better movies than this.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Hop, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle