The War With Grandpa ~ Movie Review by MOVIE MONKEY
I am Movie Monkey and am a true film addict.
Hope you enjoy my reviews. May contain spoliers
The War With Grandpa
- Genre: Comedy
- Release Date: 9th October 2020
- Director: Tim Hill
- Starring: Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Oakes Fegley, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour.
The War With Grandpa is a light hearted family comedy which tells the story of a boy and his Grandfather who have fallen out regarding the ownership of a bedroom, as written in the book of the same name by Robert Kimmel Smith.
After Ed (Grandpa) inadvertently robs the local grocery store during a mishap with the self checkout system which he is not familiar with, his Daughter invites him to come live with them at their house.
Being recently widowed and losing his drivers licence, she feels that this will help him with not only day to day tasks that become increasingly difficult with older age but that it will also help with feeling lonely.
Grandpa agrees, but to be able to ensure that he has a suitable bedroom to sleep in, his Grandson Peter is told that he needs to vacate his room and move up into the attic instead.
Peter is less than happy with this arrangement and makes it very clear to his Grandpa that this is not what he wants to happen.
Courtesy of YouTube
Peter reluctantly moves all of his furniture and belongings into the attic with it's cobwebs, bats and rats to keep him company.
Whilst Grandpa settles into his new room with his belongings from his old house which he built himself during his years of working as a house builder.
Peter decides to declare a war with his Grandpa and tells him that he has just 24 hours to surrender the bedroom back to him or he will have to face the consequences.
The prank war ensues! They each devise hilarious pranks to send their opponent into submission.
Peter switches Grandpa's shaving cream for foam sealant and sabotages his golf clubs, whilst Ed removes all the screws from Peters bedroom furniture and alters his precious Nike Air Jordan trainers with sequins and gems.
Some pranks are successful but others backfire with disastrous results for the whole family.
They decide, along with their own groups of friends, to challenge each other to a game of dodgeball at a trampoline park.
Each team fights well but they ultimately tie the game and therefore the situation is not resolved by an outright winner.
Peters little Sister Jenny is obsessed with Christmas and chooses to have a Christmas themed birthday party at home with all her friends.
Complete with fake snow, festive decorations and a bouncy house, Ed also says that he will be dressing up as Santa.
Both Ed and Peter agree that they should have a truce whilst the party is happening so that they can focus on the occasion rather than setting up pranks.
However, Peter breaks the truce and sets up an ejecting chair in the place where 'Santa' will be sitting.
But the Santa is in actual fact not Ed, but his aging friend Jerry.
Jerry is catapulted into the air and lands on the grass.
Ed gets electrocuted by some faulty Christmas lights and falls off the ladder onto the bouncy house. It also knocks down a fir tree, which falls on top of the barbecue and sets on fire.
The birthday cake is ruined too.
In the commotion another larger garden tree falls over, Ed knocks Peter out of the way to save him but the tree takes out the corner of the family house where Peters older Sister Mia is revealed to be kissing her boyfriend Russell, much to her Mothers dismay.
Grandpa is sent to the hospital to receive x rays after crashing to the ground with Peter.
He ends up discharging himself and empties his room at the families house, convinced that it is probably best for all involved if he were to move out.
The family eventually track Grandpa down and Peter and him have a heart to heart conversation.
Peter tells him that he wants Grandpa to move back in with them and that, after everything, he wants him to keep his bedroom. Ed reveals that he has actually quite enjoyed all the pranks and that it was fun and it has helped him with the sadness after losing Grandma.
Fast forward three months and Peter is eager to go on a fishing trip with Grandpa; something that they now do every Saturday.
Grandpa tells him that he can't today as he already has plans with his new girlfriend.
Peter is annoyed and looks on with a mischievous and conniving glint in his eyes as if he thinks it could be time for another Peter vs Grandpa war!
This is a movie that the whole family can enjoy.
Anyone who watches will see the lasting message it gives that the relationship between the different generations of each family is important and something to treasure and appreciate.
Kids will love the content of the pranks and the many situations that occur due to them.
Not the most laugh out loud movie out there but there are lots of funny moments, the acting is on point, the storyline is entertaining and the feel good vibe it gives off are all good reasons to add it to your family's 'worth a watch' list.
Movie Monkey Rating: 4
