Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore team up again for Blended, a romantic comedy about two single parents who end up at the same South African resort with their children after accidentally buying halves of the same vacation package. The setup is simple: Jim, a widower whose wife died of cancer, and Lauren, a recently divorced woman whose husband cheated on her, both book a trip to Africa, unaware the other has done the same. Fate forces them to share a romantic suite and a series of family activities. The film was directed by Frank Coraci, with a script by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera. It arrived in theaters on May 23, 2014, grossing $128 million against a budget of $40 million. Critics were not kind.
Trailer, via Warner Bros..
Jim and Lauren
Jim and Lauren are both damaged. Jim lost his wife to cancer, and his three daughters — Hilary, Espen and Lou — are struggling to cope. Lauren’s husband cheated on her, and she keeps that secret from her two sons, Brendan and Tyler, who resent her dating again. The film spends its early scenes establishing the grief on both sides, but the setup falls apart once the families land at the resort.
Their shared hotel room is a romantic suite. That detail alone should signal trouble, and it does. Jim and Lauren avoid each other at every turn, until their children start bonding across the divide. The movie leans on the idea that kids can bridge the gap between two miserable adults, but the premise feels thin next to the weight of their losses.
“Single dad, no clue. Single mom, flying solo.”
The Resort and Its Guests
The resort itself is the film’s main character. It hosts a “blended familymoon,” where all the families dine together. Among the guests is Eddy and his wife Ginger, described as oversexed, along with Jake, Eddy’s teenage son who has a crush on Hilary. The film also brings in Shaquille O’Neal as Doug, Jim’s coworker, and Dan Patrick as Dick, Jim’s boss and Jen’s love interest. Dale Steyn, the South African cricketer, plays himself.
None of these additions elevate the material. They exist to fill space between the awkward silences that define the central relationship. The movie treats the resort as a backdrop for its own jokes, not as a place with its own identity.
The Kids Carry the Weight
Bella Thorne plays Hilary, a teenager dealing with puberty and a desire for a more feminine look. Joel McHale plays Mark, Lauren’s ex-husband, and Emma Fuhrmann plays Espen, who still pretends her mother is alive. Braxton Beckham plays Brendan, and Alyvia Alyn Lind plays Lou. These kids are meant to soften the tension between their parents, but the writing never gives them enough depth to earn that role.
The film asks us to believe that children can fix a broken marriage when the adults themselves have no chemistry. That’s a heavy ask, and the movie doesn’t deliver on it.
What Works
There are moments that work. The scene where Jim and Lauren switch credit cards at the pharmacy is genuinely funny, and the cashier’s mistake drives the plot forward. The film also captures the chaos of family travel, with children running wild and parents losing patience. Those beats feel authentic, even if the overall arc doesn’t hold together.
What Doesn’t Work
The problem is the romance. Sandler and Barrymore have worked together before, but their connection here never clicks. Jim and Lauren spend the entire film avoiding each other, and the movie never explains why they keep coming back to the same suite. Their children bond naturally, but the adults remain strangers, which makes the final act feel hollow.
The supporting cast deserves better. Kevin Nealon, Terry Crews and Wendi McLendon-Covey all get screen time, but their scenes are mostly filler. The cameos — Allen Covert and Alexis Arquette reprising their roles from The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates — add a wink to fans but nothing to the story.
A Familiar Formula
Blended follows a pattern Sandler has used before: two miserable adults thrown together by circumstance, forced to confront their feelings. This time, the setup is a vacation package rather than a wedding or a memory loop. The formula hasn’t changed, and neither has the result.
The film is at its best when it’s messy, and at its worst when it tries to tidy things up. The ending resolves the plot too quickly, wrapping up the romance without earning it.
Final Word
Blended isn’t a disaster, but it’s a forgettable one. The premise is clever, the cast is capable, and the children are endearing. None of that adds up to a satisfying watch. The movie wastes a good idea on a romance that never gels and a comedy that never quite lands.
The film’s success comes down to execution, and here it fails. The jokes miss their mark, the romance feels forced, and the children are left carrying a burden the adults shouldn’t have created.
- The credit card switch at the pharmacy — genuinely funny.
- The blended familymoon dinner — chaotic and human.
- The kids bonding across families — the heart of the story.
- The romantic suite — the engine of the plot.
- The resolution — the weakest part of the whole film.
Blended is a middling effort from a talented cast and a director who knows how to build a premise. It just can’t find the spark that made their earlier collaborations work. The film is now a footnote in Sandler and Barrymore’s careers, a pleasant detour rather than a destination.
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