Mon grand père et moi (The War with Grandpa)

The War with Grandpa is a family comedy par excellence which, although it does not stand out for its originality, is a pleasure to watch. Anything goes between a young child Peter (Oakes Fegley), 10 years old, and his grandfather Ed (Robert De Niro) when the latter has to reluctantly move into their family home. Ed recovers Peter's room to his great dismay and Peter will do everything he can to get it back, including making the most of his resources.

Directed by Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), Hop (2011), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2021)) (The War with Grandpa finds actor Robert De Niro in a lighter role far from his remarkable performances in Martin Scorsese's many films. Between an intergenerational confrontation of the dodgeball, a birthday under the sign of Christmas or multiple twists and turns, The War with Grandpa will not remain as the comedy of the year in particular by its lack of originality and its will not to offend anyone.

One will also appreciate the great care taken in the music of this film signed by Christopher Lennertz. It brings an added value to this comedy by also playing on nostalgia. We would have just appreciated a great genius in the too flat realization and which gives to this film the airs of luxurious telefilms but whose numerous imperfections spoil a little our pleasure to find such good actors.

Yet where The War with Grandpa scores points is in the presence of an interesting cast in which we find around Robert De Niro actors of his generation like Christopher Walken, Jayne Seymour and Cheech Marin but also the too rare Uma Thurman far from her cult role of the dyptic Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino. The presence of such a cast adds a nostalgic note to this intergenerational comedy in which we will shed a little tear at the end, telling ourselves that time passes too quickly and that we wake up one day without having been able to tell our loved ones how much we love them. The War with Grandpa could have been an excellent Christmas comedy by making a few small changes and establishing itself as a worthy descendant of Home alone... Remains a comedy that can be watched and forgotten just as quickly...

The War with Grandpa
Directed by Tim Hill
Produced by Marvin Peart, Rosa Morris Peart, Phillip Glasser
Written by Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember
Based on The War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith
Starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Oakes Fegley, Laura Marano, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, Christopher Walken
Music by Aaron Zigman
Cinematography; Greg Gardiner
Edited by Peter S. Elliot, Craig Herring
Production company: Marro Films, Sigh Films, West Madison Entertainment, Tri-G Films, Emmett/Furla Oasis
Distributed by ; 101 Studios, Brookdale Studios (USA),
Release date; October 9, 2020 (United States), October 7, 2020 (France)
Running time: 94 minutesDuration: 94 minutes

Viewed on October 6, 2020 (screener press)

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