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Film: Blended
Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Terry Crews, Wendy McLendon Covey, Zak Henry, Dan Patrick, Bella Thorn, Terry Crews.
Director: Frank Coraci
Cinema: Eastgate.
Running time: 112 minutes
Type of film: Family comedy
Age restriction: Parental guidance advised
Reviewed by Joel White

Longer by one third than the average Hollywood film, such easy, welcome viewing left me wishing it had gone on much longer.
The most highly recommended film I’ve seen in a long, long time.

The setting is where, in fact, the film was actually made, a small town in America, in the state of Georgia, in the south. Fate intervenes to bring together Jim (Adam Sandler) a widower with three daughters; and Jan (Drew Barrymore), a divorcee with two sons.

Drew, Hollywood born (1975) is of the third generation of American filmdom’s most venerated family, Lionel (1878), Ethel (1879) and John (1882).

More than most, this film dwells more on the activities and behaviour of their respective children, who, nevertheless, play a role in bringing their parents together.

This, in spite of their parents’ fixation on lovers elsewhere.

Jim and Jan and their total of five children are brought together having known each other, casually, earlier by the coincidence of choosing to vacation in a not further identified locale in Africa.

As always, with a Hollywood film set in Africa, the scene is ready made to provide American audiences with the opportunity to test some of their views of an African country.

Happily, in this case, there is no depicted exaggeration and therefore no criticism or fault to be found.

Quite the opposite, resulting in a film to which I give the highest recommendation.

Happily, the film’s age-rating permits children to see this in the company of their parents.

Realistic scenes of African wildlife seen by the visiting American children are a marvel.