Full Grown Men (2006)

39% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
34% of users liked it
(352 ratings)

The youthful delusions of a wistful husband and father prompt him to seek out a childhood friend and embark on a soul-searching journey of self discovery to the one place where no adult demands will be made of him in director David Munro's surreal second coming-of-age comedy. Alby (Matt McGrath) is… More The youthful delusions of a wistful husband and father prompt him to seek out a childhood friend and embark on a soul-searching journey of self discovery to the one place where no adult demands will be made of him in director David Munro's surreal second coming-of-age comedy. Alby (Matt McGrath) is having an early midlife crisis. Convinced that the only way to overcome his current malaise is to seek out his childhood pal Elias (Judah Friedlander) and set out on the open road, Alby leaves behind his wife and son in hopes of recapturing the glory of his youth. Unfortunately for Alby, Elias is all grown up now, and isn't exactly overjoyed to see the "best friend" whose rosy vision of childhood largely came from the fact that he made Elias the unwitting butt of his every joke. When Alby learns that Elias is taking a group of disabled drama students on a trip to the local amusement park, Elias has no choice but to let his pushy pal come along for the ride. What follows is a pensively hilarious look life as seen through the eyes of a man who can't seem to move past his youth, and the effect that a student-clown bartender (Amy Sedaris), a disgruntled former amusement park employee (Alan Cumming), a retired water-park mermaid (Debbie Harry), and a whole host of colorful characters have in helping Alby to bridge the gap between the glory days of his past and an uncertain future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 18 min.
Directed By: David Munro
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 25, 2008 Wide
Studio: Emerging Pictures

Critic Reviews

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Full Grown Men is an artistically integrated film that introduces a refreshing new talent to the independent scene, one who combines the visual palette of filmmaker Harmony Korine with an all-important sense of narrative.
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Friedlander offers a nicely subtle performance, but the other actors -- including Alan Cumming, Deborah Harry and Amy Sedaris -- appear to have turned up as a favor to the director. Don't feel obliged to follow their lead.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Full Grown Men is nicely photographed and has impressive sets; too bad there's so little going on that it seems long even at 78 minutes.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
The candy-colored Full Grown Men wants to be a kind of anti-Wizard of Oz for a culture inundated with toys and toons.
Ed Gonzalez, Village Voice
For better and for worse (at least for a story about a man struggling to behave like an adult), Full Grown Men feels and thinks with the heart and mind of a child.
Sara Cardace, New York Magazine
It's a beautiful, delicately observed comedy.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
Full Grown Men might work better if the audience was given a reason to feel even a small sliver of sympathy for Alby
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com
Peter Pan syndrome is a tremendously interesting psychological condition, but Men would rather make tiresome action figure jokes and spotlight whining characters. Blah.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Full Grown Men doesn't even make childhood seem like all that much fun.
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
Hasn't got a joke worth laughing over.
Noel Murray, AV Club
Full Grown Men often becomes as intolerably silly as the twee Amerindies it's reacting to.
Joshua Land, Time Out New York
Wears a bit thin even at its brief length.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
It's dramatically unsatisfying.
Ashna Ali, New York Press
The world is uncomfortably perfect, and sparkly wide shots of stretches of landscape across which Alby walks reduce him to the lost little boy he insists on remaining, swallowed by the big bad world.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
This whimsically crafted tale that manages to be simultaneously silly, surreal and wise beyond years, is a combo memory lane, reverse time travel road movie and thirtysomething boy bonding satire, plus flaky storytelling in the extreme.
Mark Bell, Film Threat
As an audience member, you want to like your lead, or at least find something redeeming in him.
F.X. Feeney, L.A. Weekly
Lyrical and funny, Full Grown Men is a tough-minded film about the need to grow up.