Ty Watches "Mermaid"

I am a fan of Johnny Pemberton. I became a fan when I first saw him on "Superstore". He played Bo, Cheyenne's boyfriend then husband, and his character cracked me up. He was silly and made tons of jokes. I then saw he was cast in "Fallout". I like that show as well, and he is just as funny as he is in his other work. He brings comedic elements to a show that can be pretty intense from time to time. He has popped up in other stuff here and there, but it is usually just a small comedic thing. Then I listened to him on a bunch of recent podcast appearances and he kept talking about his new movie, "Mermaid".

I heard “Mermaid” described as a horror/comedy. When Pemberton was talking about the movie during these appearances, I could not glean how much he was going to be in it. Well, the other day I noticed that it was streaming for free on Prime, so I decided to watch.

Pemberton is the main character in this movie. He is the star and he drives the whole thing. First off, that made me happy. I feel like he has been around long enough, paid his dues and was bound to get a leading role sooner or later. But he is playing a totally different character here. Pemberton plays Doug, a divorced dad of one who gets fired from his job as a fish tank cleaner and is addicted to pills. And while there are some comedic elements in this movie and this role, Pemberton plays this character very quietly and makes him very odd. That is the consensus of all of the people who spend time with him in this movie. They are constantly asking him if he is okay or if something is wrong.

The first 45 minutes of this movie give us Doug's backstory after he gets fired. We see him spending time with his daughter, getting into a fight with his ex, drinking beers and taking pills. Then one of his dealers and his crony show up at his house trying to get paid. This is where Robert Patrick comes into play. He is the dealer and he is a bad, bad dude. After they rough up Doug, Patrick pours bleach into his fish tank. This really upsets Doug, as fish are the only thing he communicates with on a regular basis. From here on out the movie takes us on a wild ride.

Doug is in the process of trying to kill himself, and then he chances upon a mermaid in the ocean. We see this mermaid during the first scene of the movie, a chance encounter with Tom Arnold. Doug takes the mermaid into his home, it is injured, and he starts to care for it. The movie then kind of starts to go nuts when the mermaid shows up and has a starring role next to Pemberton. This mermaid is very scary looking. It's not like most mermaids we get to see on screen. The usual mermaids we see are beautiful, with great voices and a heart of gold. This mermaid is terrifying. The mermaid has super sharp teeth, its body looks like it has been mutated, the fin and tail look normal-ish, but the rest of the mermaid looks scary. I like that they go to these lengths to make this mermaid look different. And the relationship between Doug and the mermaid is well done here. Doug takes proper care of her and truly cares for her. But it is the stuff they add on here that makes this wild. The puking, the birthday party scene, the montage of them hanging out, it is crazy. We then have an auction in the final plot point of the movie. This is where the movie officially goes off the rails. It is truly nuts.

This movie was hit and miss for me. There was some stuff that I truly liked. As mentioned before, I thought Pemberton did a really good job with this role. He gets to do something different and he really goes for it here. I liked the design of the mermaid. I thought Tom Arnold had a great scene. I liked Kevin Nealon as well as his relationship with Doug's ex and his daughter. Robert Patrick plays a superb villain as well. But there was some other stuff that I just couldn't get into. I thought Kirk Fox was underutilized. Sometimes the movie got gross just to be gross. There was about 15 to 20 minutes that they could have easily cut out of the movie to make it a clean 90 minutes. And I wanted to see more with the other sea creature that came to help, or maybe hurt the mermaid and Pemberton. It kind of felt uneven. But my favorite thing in this whole movie was the opening credits had some writing on the screen that read, "this is my love letter to Florida". And Kevin Nunn goes out on a banger of a line, that you have to see because it rules.

"Mermaid" was fine, but I don't think I'll ever watch it again. And I'm glad that Pemberton is getting more work. I just read that he is going to be in another horror movie coming out sometime in the near future. Give it a watch if you're curious. That is my glowing recommendation for "Mermaid". 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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"Grandma's Boy" is One of the Greatest Underrated Movies of All Time

At the beginning of this month my wife had to go out of town for work. This meant that I had free reign to watch whatever I wanted after I put my kids to bed. I watched a lot of sports, but I also watched some movies that I hadn't seen in quite awhile that I used to love. One such movie that I revisited was "Grandma's Boy".

I am an unabashed fan of this movie. I saw it in the theaters. I feel like I was one of the, maybe, 100 people who did that. I then proceeded to buy it on DVD the day it came out, and then tried my best to spread the word about it. My brother Seth bought in. He loves the movie. A few of my friends, the ones who movies preferences I appreciate, loved it. My wife, then my girlfriend, thought it was hilarious.

Unfortunately “Grandma’s Boy” does not have the best of reputations. I read all the reviews and talked to some people who hadn't seen it, and it got trashed. I was very confused by this. I thought, and after a rewatch, that "Grandma's Boy" is one the best stoner comedies ever made.

Come at me.

During this rewatch, I found myself laughing as hard as I did the first time. This movie flows seamlessly from scene to scene. They don't hold on any jokes too long. The pace is perfect for this style movie. The acting is great. Yes, I said great. It is a perfect movie to just sit down, if you have about 80 minutes to spare, and laugh your ass off. The most famous person, in my opinion, from the movie is Linda Cardellini, and much to her credit, she goes for it.

The movie has a very simple story. An older gentlemen works at a video game company, he loses his house, can't find a place to live, has to move in with his grandma and her roommates, creates a game, has a conflict and wins and gets the girl. Simple. But, like the aforementioned Cardellini, all the actors go for it, and they all nail it. Cardellini plays a higher up at a big video game firm and she is brought in to help fix the company's new game. She is funny, smart and great in this role. She is so unassuming, and the scene where she sings "Push It" by Salt N Pepa is amazing. But, like I said, everyone else is hilarious.

This movie is a Happy Madison movie, Adam Sandler's company, but he doesn't flood it with his famous friends. There is no Kevin James or Chris Rock, and I like Chris Rock. Rob Schiender is in one scene, but that is it. In "Grandma's Boy", Sandler lets his less famous friends shine. Allen Covert plays the lead, Alex. He is the old man stoner that works at the video game company. He is hilarious. He has great lines and I totally buy him as a leading man in a movie like this. Nick Swardson, in one of his first movie roles, plays Alex's friend, Jeff. Jeff still lives at home, is a total momma's boy and has some great scenes opposite Shirley Jones. Speaking of Shirley Jones, she is wonderfully hilarious in the movie. She plays one of Alex's grandma's roommates. Alex's grandma is played by Doris Roberts. We all know her from "Everybody Loves Raymond". But in this movie, she is so sweet and nice. There is also a scene when she drinks pot that is wonderful. Jonah Hill shows up in this movie. This is the first movie I ever saw him in, and he is hilarious. Kevin Nealon plays the owner of the video game company who is also into yoga and getting high. He is great. Another one of Sandler's buddy's, who shows up in all of his other movies in small roles, Peter Dante plays a weed dealer named Dante. Do yourself a favor and go listen to a famous Swardson bit about working on this movie with him. Lets just say, instead of smoking fake weed, he smokes real weed. The bit is tremendous. And everyone else is perfect for this movie.

Like I said, "Grandma's Boy" is a movie that I expected to tune in, but tune out by playing on my phone. I did not do that because I found myself laughing so hard. The movie still held as much weight with me as it did my first go round. It could have been, had they made multiple sequels, my generation's "Cheech and Chong". But, I am glad they didn't make any sequels. This movie didn't need any. They got it right on the first try and they wrapped it up nicely.

Also, don't always believe what the critics say. Sometimes they go in inclined to dislike a movie because it doesn't have a super star or a big name director or they don't like the company that made it. They have preconceived notions that they will not let themselves get past.

My opinion. "Grandma's Boy" is well worth your time, especially if you like stoner comedies. This movie rules, and the fact that I am now defending it, 12 years later, should prove how funny it is, and that it still holds up. I love this movie.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Other than “Grandma’s Boy” what other bad movies are actually really good. Check out our podcast where we discuss that very topic.

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