The Raunchy, Extremely R-Rated Comedy That Pushes Every Limit

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 20 seconds ago

Happy Madison Productions is best known for producing Adam Sandler movies because it’s his company. However, he also produces films for associates like Rob Schneider, Allen Covert, and Nick Swardson. One of the wildest, most outrageous of these movies is the stoner comedy Grandma’s Boy.

Grandma’s Boy Is Absolute Chaos

The movie is about Alex (Allen Covert), a video game aficionado and play tester for game developer Brainasium. The corporation is running the final tests on Eternal Deathslayer III, created by boy genius programmer JD (Joel David Moore of Dodgeball as a guy who thinks he’s an android) and overseen by Samantha (Scooby Doo’s Lina Cardellini), a hot new manager who has been hired to ensure the game is released on time.

Alex is secretly developing his own game, Demonic, but when he suddenly finds himself homeless, he has to scramble for a place to stay. His best friend Jeff’s (Nick Swardson) place is out of the question, and his weed dealer, Dante (fellow Happy Madison alum Peter Dante), lives in a chaotic environment that includes a tribal shaman and a monkey learning taekwondo.

Alex finds himself living at his grandmother’s house, where he is subject to endless leftovers, even more chores, and three wacky old ladies: Grandma Lilly (played by Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond), the sexy vixen Grace (seductively played by Shirley Jones, best known for The Patridge Family), and the pill-guzzling Bea (Shirley Knight of As Good as It Gets). Sure, he’s got time to work on his game, but only when he can keep Grandma from hogging it up so she can play it. But when all three of Alex’s worlds of video games, weed, and Grandma collide, the madcap results will change Alex’s life.

A Stacked Cast Firing On All Cylinders

The supporting cast is as ensemble as the main cast, featuring Schneider, fellow Saturday Night Live alumni David Spade and Kevin Nealon, and an early appearance from Jonah Hill. The offbeat characters, from fellow gamers at Brainasium to the caustic vegan restaurant waiter to Dr. Shakalu, decorate the film with hilarious absurdity as Alex stumbles through his life and his budding romance with Samantha.

The jokes aren’t limited to stoner humor, either. There are plenty of video gaming references, including a heavy match of Frog Bog on an Intellivision, proving the movie really knew its source material. Many, many raunchy jokes abound, especially when manchild Jeff meets the seductress Grace. Alex’s boss, Mr. Cheezle (Kevin Nealon), is a lampoon of eccentric money and new age pondering. The three old ladies are just as zany as the younger characters are. The pot jokes, like a commentary on names of weed strains and the use of a bong as a flower vase, are present, but this isn’t a Cheech and Chong movie and it has other jokes to tell.

Just As Good As The Unrated Version

I own the unrated version of Grandma’s Boy, but I checked out the R-rated streaming version to see what the differences were. The rated version surprised me by keeping many of the raunchiest jokes in the movie, nipping and tucking in a few places where it pushed the envelope just a little too far, such as the conclusion of Jonah Hill’s 13-hour marathon with the Milk Maid. Surprisingly, the infamous reason Alex can’t stay with Jeff is still there in its full, explicit glory.

For a rowdy ride through the world of video games and one of Doris Roberts’ best performances, check out Grandma’s Boy on Hulu. Despite the fact that it’s an edited version, it’s still the same hilarious movie.