The War with Grandpa (2020)

The War with Grandpa (2020)

4/10

Starring

Robert De Niro

Uma Thurman

Rob Riggle

Oakes Fegley

Christopher Walken

 

 

Directed by Tim Hill

When a movie is titled The War with Grandpa, you can expect it to be cheesy, silly, and an average family fun movie. It’s something you can watch during this COVID period without feeling the urge to turn it off or walk out on once you start. However, don't expect to be overjoyed, laughing hard at this comedy.

The movie is based on a book of the same name for young children by the late Robert Kimmel Smith. One thing I’ll give the movie credit for is the pranks—there were some scenes and pranks that cracked me up, though others seemed a bit over the top.

The whole idea of a turf war between grandpa and grandson may have started out silly, but the movie tries (and fails) to take it from silly to entertaining, with an ending I didn’t like. It went from what should have been a normal, happy ending where the family fixes the mess the two made, to some tears and a young man frowning as the credits roll. The idea behind that frown? If the movie does well at the box office, they already have a setup for a sequel.

The movie starts by introducing us to Sally’s (Uma Thurman) dad, Ed (Robert De Niro). Ed is old and, since the loss of his wife, tired and just wants things to stay the way they are—no changes that will make his existence harder. After a mess at a supermarket, Sally has to move him into her home, giving him her young son Peter’s (played by Oakes Fegley) room. Peter is not happy about this and complains. When he doesn’t get any response, he nags his friends about it. It’s during this gathering of his friends that he comes up with the idea to declare war on his grandpa by sending him a declaration of war notice.

At first, the old man doesn’t take it seriously, but when he sees that Peter is actually serious, they meet and decide to go after each other. From here, you can pretty much guess where it goes.

With the caliber of actors in this movie, I expected more. But hey, they worked with what was written. Even my main man Christopher Walken’s class did little to nothing to save this movie.

In the end, watch this movie if you feel you can stand two people pulling pranks on each other with guided special effects, stunts, and moments that are almost unrealistic all the time.