Blended is a 2014 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and distributed by Warner Bros. It was written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera. Its story follows Jim and Lauren, two single parents who went on a blind date together and never wanted to see each other again afterwards. To their surprise they both end up at the same African safari resort with their children and are forced to stay together. It stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, with an ensemble cast featuring Bella Thorne, Emma Fuhrmann, Terry Crews, Joel McHale, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kevin Nealon, and Shaquille O’Neal. South African cricketer Dale Steyn plays a cameo as himself.
Plot
Divorcee Lauren Reynolds goes on a blind date with widower Jim Friedman at Hooters; it goes badly. Lauren talks to her friend Jen about the experience. Jim discusses his date with his co-worker. They both agree in the separate discussions that things could have gone better.
Lauren and Jim run into each other while on errands to the pharmacy, and the cashier mistakenly switches their credit cards. Jim goes to Lauren’s house to switch the credit cards back. Jen is at Lauren’s house and has broken up with her boyfriend Dick, Jim’s boss, although she and Dick had already paid for a trip to Africa. Lauren commits to using Jen’s portion of the vacation package without knowing that Jim intends to use Dick’s as well and that the hotel accommodation is for a romantic suite.
The families are put together for a “blended familymoon”, where they get together with other couples, including the oversexed Eddy and Ginger. Eddy’s new bride is quite his junior, to the chagrin of their teenage son Jake, on whom Jim’s oldest daughter Hilary develops a crush at first sight.
The kids make an awkward impression with each other, with Brendan calling his mom “hot,” and the others not knowing how to react to Espn acting like her mom is there with her, as she is not ready to let go of her quite yet. Over time the kids begin to bond with each other and each other’s parent.
Jim bonds with the boys, helping them with adventurous sports, while Lauren bonds with the girls, helping Hilary to change her tomboyish look into a more feminine one, leading to Jake becoming her boyfriend.
As they become closer to their children, Jim and Lauren begin to warm up to each other. They inadvertently get together for a couples’ massage and have fun with each other. When Lou asks Lauren to put her to bed, Lauren sings her “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which, unknown to her, was the song Lou’s mom used to sing. The other girls pretend to sleep, while realizing how much they truly love Lauren. She returns this feeling when she maternally kisses each girl’s forehead as she says goodnight. Jim starts to realize the depth of his feelings for Lauren.
On the last night of the trip, Lauren puts on a beautiful black dress that she admired earlier. She wears it that evening and receives admiration from everyone. Jim and Lauren are sat down for a romantic dinner, which Lauren soon discovers was actually planned by Jim specifically for her. They chat briefly about basic parenting techniques and then pull in for a kiss; however, at the last second, Jim pulls away, apologizing and explaining that he “can’t do it”.
After returning to America, Jim realizes he misses Lauren and that he’s fallen in love with her, which he admits to his daughters who are ecstatic with the news. Although Espn is not fully ready to move on from her mother’s passing, she also doesn’t want her family to lose Lauren. She starts to move on by telling her dad that her mom said that she had other things to do in Heaven and wouldn’t be around as much.
At the kids’ behest, Jim goes to Lauren’s house to give her flowers, only to find her ex-husband Mark there. Tyler gets excited to see Jim and wants to play ball; Mark bullies Jim into leaving, then ditches Tyler to answer a summons from work. Mark tries to make a move on Lauren, but she refuses his advances because of his continuous failure to be a good father, in addition to his having an affair during their marriage.
Lauren and Brendan go to support Tyler at his next baseball game, along with Jen and Dick, whom Jen has worked things out with, and his five kids. Mark doesn’t come to the game. Jim and his daughters arrive to show encouragement, inspiring Tyler to hit the ball as Jim had taught him in Africa. Jim then finds Lauren and they admit to wanting to be together, and they finally kiss, to the happiness of their kids, who realize that they are already a blended family.
Cast
Adam Sandler as Jim Friedman
Drew Barrymore as Lauren Reynolds, Jim’s 2nd wife
Bella Thorne as Hilary Friedman, Jim’s daughter and Lauren’s stepdaughter
Braxton Beckham as Brendan Reynolds, Lauren’s son and Jim’s stepson
Emma Fuhrmann as Espn Friedman, Jim’s daughter and Lauren’s stepdaughter
Kyle Red Silverstein as Tyler Reynolds, Lauren’s son and Jim’s stepson
Alyvia Alyn Lind as Louise “Lou” Friedman, Jim’s daughter and Lauren’s stepdaughter
Terry Crews as Nickens
Kevin Nealon as Eddy Warnick
Jessica Lowe as Ginger Warnick, Eddy’s wife
Zak Henri as Jake Warnick, Eddy’s son
Wendi McLendon-Covey as Jen Palmer
Joel McHale as Mark, Lauren’s ex-husband
Abdoulaye N’Gom as Mfana
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