Grandma's Boy

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Grandma's Boy (2006) is an American comedy film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison in 2006. The film stars Allen Covert, who also co-wrote and co-produced, Nick Swardson, Doris Roberts and Linda Cardellini.

When his landlord kicks him out after his roommate blows the rent money on Filipino hookers, 35-year-old video game tester Alex has to find a new place to live. After trying unsuccessfully to crash at his dealer's place and a colleague's house, Alex moves in with his grandmother and her two roommates. In order to save face with his co-workers, Alex claims to be living with "three hot babes" but things get complicated when he falls for the beautiful Samantha - and discovers a romantic rival in J.P., the creator of the video game they are all working on.


Tropes used in Grandma's Boy include:

Jeff: I can't believe you came on my mom.

  • Development Gag: The film was originally going to be called "Nana's Boy", which is referenced at the party.

Samantha: Aw, what's the matter, Nana's boy? Can't hang?

Jeff: That's great, Bobby, but we don't have Dance Dance Revolution so... you're dumb.

  • cuts to a shot of the DDR machine sitting in the break room*

Jeff: When the hell did we get this?

  • Man Child: Played most noticeably with Jeff, who still lives with his parents, sleeps in a onesie with stuffed animals and whose bed is a car.

Jeff: Yeah, but it's a fuckin' sweet car.

  • Mushroom Samba: When Alex's grandmother and friends run out of tea, they look for more tea inside a jar in Alex's room. The same jar where Alex hides his weed. Hilarity (and a massive party) ensues.
  • Nerds Are Virgins: Implied rather strongly, since the massive party in the middle of the movie is when Jeff loses his virginity and Barry gets to second base for the first time...for 13 hours straight.
  • Never Trust a Trailer: This movie was marketed in the trailer as being about a slacker who lived with his grandma and smokes weed with his stoner friend and pet monkey. Hilarious antics of the trio would presumably ensue.
    • The actual story involves a slacker who lived with this grandma and smokes weed with his stoner friend and pet monkey when he's not dealing with the hilarious antics of the video game company.
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: When the disc for the game JP is working on is stolen, he considers the entire game to be stolen. Apparently he directly works on the game while it's in a disk somehow.
  • Pac-Man Fever: Mostly averted, but still refers to numbered levels even when discussing fighting games and RPGs, two genres which seldom if ever feature numbered levels.
  • Product Placement / Vapourware: Alex's game, "Demonik", was an actual game in development for the XBox360 until its publisher, Majesco, got into financial trouble and the game was canceled.
  • Robo Speak: J.P. does this for no clear reason.
  • The Slacker: Alex
  • Shout-Out: While it may seem like simply a reference to him being a Japanophile, Word of God has said that the scene where J.P. eats sushi for lunch was done as an homage to the scene where Claire eats sushi for lunch in The Breakfast Club.
    • A statue of Naked Snake can be seen early in the film.
    • Kane's car is the same modified Toyota Supra from Two Fast Two Furious.
    • JP's office has Doom Doors.
    • Gay Robot, for which there are a couple of posters at Brainasium, was an actual animated TV series written by and starring Nick Swardson.
  • Shown Their Work: The set designers do a good job of setting up an office that resembles what you might find in a game studio. The script writers, not so much.
  • Smug Snake: J.P.
  • Stoner Flick
  • Stoners Are Funny
  • Take Our Word for It: The "Brown Bomber", a strand of marijuana that gets you so high, you shit your pants.
  • Throw It In: The "you're a hooker" line was actually suggested by Adam Sandler on the day that scene was shot.
  • Whole Costume Reference: J.P. consistently dresses like Neo.

Alex: How much do clothes cost in The Matrix?