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Review of the Film- “The War with Grandpa”

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liza martinee

Robert De Niro is a shadow of himself in this below-par imitation of “Home Alone.”

If I was the creator of “The War with Grandpa,” I would have just wanted to be done with it. Nothing worked well for the film as it had to be sold out courtesy of Harvey Weinstein whose sexual crimes put him behind bars. After treading over an ominous path filled with negative auras for quite a long time, the film completed in 2017 finally found its way to the theaters in 2020.

The War with Grandpa

Sources : https://lizamartinee.wordpress.com/2020/10/16/review-of-the-film-the-war-with-grandpa/

The film cannot necessarily be called bad, but it is a film that was supposed to be funny, but it isn’t. The toothless comedy can only find a place in the hearts of undiscerning fans and for those who clearly have a lot of times in their hands. Despite having best actors in its arsenal that includes two-time Academy Award winner Robert DeNiro, one-time Academy Award winner Christopher Walken, and an Academy Award-nominated actress Uma Thurman, the film felt like a monotonous drag that was doing vast injustice to their acting virtuosity.

De Niro plays the role of the titular grandpa, whose total disregard of technology makes him steal groceries from the supermarket. His displeased daughter forces him to move in with her, which he does not want to do because his house is the last memory of his deceased wife. He eventually gives in and moves in with her, but due to lack of space, he has to adjust on his grandson’s bed who is then forced to sleep in the attic. Expectedly, this causes a rift between the grandson and the grandpa, and as the title suggests, it forms the basis for the rest of the film.

De Niro’s performance has not been a surprise. He is well past his prime, and though his role as an American hitman Frank Sheeran in the Netflix’s Academy Award-nominated film “The Irishman” was an exception, his recent films are well below his league that includes his stint in the 2017 comedy film Dirty Grandpa. His role in “Joker” was also vastly overshadowed by Joaquin Phoenix.

The concept cannot be blamed for the mediocrity of “War with Grandpa” as the book on which the script is based upon is not so average at all. The book penned by Robert Kimmel Smith did provide the film with a nice idea and a structure which was not properly used in the film. Scriptwriters Tom J Astle and Matt Ember barely scratched the surface in the first half, and sadly that is it. The film goes into a downward spiral after that. The duo lacked the creativity in the story’s denser moments, and the characterization falls short if you compare the film with the book. The overall plot moves like a pendulum and never actually reaches anything conclusive.

However, the best parts of the film are played by De Niro himself, and especially when he portrays a side of an old man that is struggling to find its place in the world without his spouse.

We should give a clap for the efforts made by all the cast and crew to finally bring their work in front of the audience. Despite the flaws in the film, it’s release is a win for the entire production team.

“The War with Grandpa” has been released in the United States and will soon be unveiled in the United Kingdom.

 
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