Grown Ups 2: Acting and Acting Styles

According to the Goodykoontz and Jacobs’ book Film: From watching to seeing (2011), there are five types of actors:

1) Impersonator- “…copies the manner, dialect, and behavior of a character, instead of creating the character”.

2) Interpreters- “…refers to actors who take material and put their own stamp on it. Often this involves actors interpreting well-known roles”.

3) Personality Actors- “…playing themselves (at least that is the perception). Films with strong personality actors can make it difficult to differentiate between the actor and the character”.

4) Wild Card- “…an actor who is difficult to classify as one certain type, often because he or she can play a wide variety of characters equally well without becoming typecast.”

5) Character- “…fit invisibly into a wide variety of disparate characters, adapting to the needs of each script and director they work with…they often are not immediately recognized by the public and may take years to achieve “star” status, even though they are constantly in demand”.

The film that I chose to focus on is Grown Ups 2 (2013) starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, Salma Hayek and Maya Rudolph. It was directed by Dennis Dugan and written by Fred Wolf, Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy.

The three actors from this movie that I chose to discuss are:

Adam Sandler- I would categorize him as a personality actor. Sandler has made many films in which there is little to no differentiation between his on screen character and his true self. He started his career as a comedian playing the comedy circuit and as a regular on Saturday Night Live.

In this film, he plays Lenny Feder, a high powered Hollywood talent agent that returns to live in his Connecticut hometown because his children have become spoiled in LA. He hangs out with his childhood friends Eric (James), Kurt (Rock) and Marcus (Spade). Their family life, childhood antics and a huge 80s party is the basis of this film.

Salma Hayek- I would categorize her as a wild card actor. Hayek has made many films but the characters that she has played in the past vary in nature. She has starred in telenovelas, in films and on television. Her characters include artist Frida Kahlo, a school nurse in Here Comes the Boom, a drug cartel leader in Savages, a book store owner in Desperado and a secretly married showgirl in Wild Wild West. 

Hayek's plays Roxanne Feder, a fashion designer and Sandler's wife in Grown Ups 2. Roxanne has to be the “grown up” in the marriage and keep Lenny on track when he gets caught up in the antics that his friends dream up.

Georgia Engel- I would categorize her as a character actor. Engel has been acting for many, many years. She is considered a “star” but not a famous one. She can be better recognized for her distinct “cute” voice. She has had many roles throughout the years on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Betty White Show, Coach, Passions, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Office and Two and a Half Men. She has done voice over work as Love-A Lot Bear in the Care Bears Movie. 

In Grown Ups 2, she plays James’ mother Mrs. Lamonsoff. James hides from his wife that he spends time everyday eating breakfast and watching soap operas with mother instead of working. Although Engel has been working in the business for 45 years, she is unfortunately not a household name.

Sandler’s most successful films: The Waterboy, Grown Ups, The Wedding Singer, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore were produced thorough his production company Happy Madison. His films stay close to his comedic roots, his “everyday guy" persona and his characters are quite similar in nature. Sandler is known to dislike wearing suits and dressing up, preferring to wear warm up suits and jeans to his appearances. Once again, he is comfortable being himself and making films that his fans have come to expect .They enjoy his films and expect to laugh at his amusing behavior.

Sandler has strayed from comedy to do more serious roles in Punch Drunk Love, Reign Over Me and Spanglish. But Sandler continues to use his SNL castmates and make films that are fun and comedic. Due to the large body of Sandler’s work being mostly lovable oafs that make us laugh, in my opinion, he will always be placed in the personality actor category.

References

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Grown Ups 2 (2013) Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2191701/?ref_=nv_sr_1

YoureAJagOff (21, June 2014) Re: Grown ups 2 tire ride hd. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=309aCQJ_xPM

YoureAJagOff (23, June 2014) Re: Grown ups 2 school bus ride hd. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNW4gkPi8bg