Dinner For Schmucks (Cert 12, 109 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment)
Starring Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Kristen Schaal, Bruce Greenwood, David Walliams, Stephanie Szostak, Lucy Punch, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement ***

Jay Roach’s English language remake of the 1999 French comedy Le Diner De Cons is a series of lame jokes without punchlines that would be completely tiresome were it not for Carell’s winning performance as Barry, a thoroughly decent human being. Indeed, all of the so-called idiots are sweet, sincere and kind, conducting themselves with impeccable manners in the face of insults and rabble-rousing from high-flying businessmen who mistake an expensive suit and a corner office for good breeding. Rudd has a largely reactive role, digging himself a deep hole with sweetheart Julie (Stephanie Szostak). The plot relies on a series of clumsy set-pieces to initiate the inevitable reversal of fortunes.

Grown Ups (Cert 12, 98 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Starring Adam Sandler, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Joyce Van Patten, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph, Di Quon, Ebony Jo-Ann, Blake Clark. **

Grown Ups is puerile nonsense that has nothing intelligent to say about the transition from carefree youth to adulthood. Starved of jokes and slathered in sentiment, Dennis Dugan’s film is a soul-destroying exercise in mundanity. Sandler grabs the plum role of a doting father, who wants to re-educate his snobbish kids about the simple pleasures of life. His co-stars appear to be having a blast and we yearn to share in their hilarity. The script is crudely stitched together with cliches and profanity, signposting each plot development. Running jokes about Sally breastfeeding her four-year-old and a dog whose vocal cords has been clipped aren’t funny on the first airing, let alone the fourth or fifth.