This... this surprised me. 'Blended' is exceptionally very good, something I did not expect to be saying in this review.

Any synopsis for this would make you fear the worst, as you'd expect it to be one of those average Adam Sandler films with low quality humour and extremely lazy characters played by a poor cast. However, this film somewhat incredibly manages to make everything work; it even has heart to it.

Sandler, first of all, is actually pretty amusing as Jim. Across the opening few scenes it looks like another cliché, crappy character but as the production goes on we surprisingly get a bit more depth with him. Likewise with the rest, I feel we get enough of an understanding to go alongside the humour.

Drew Barrymore is enjoyable as Lauren, she and Sandler have very good chemistry. The child actors are nicely chosen too, with Bella Thorne (Hilary), Emma Fuhrmann (Espn - yes, really) and Braxton Beckham (Brendan) all earning their stripes - I wasn't cringed out by any of them once, which is impressive. Even the side characters here are fun, Terry Crews and Abdoulaye N'Gom are likeable in their respective roles of Nickens and Mfana.

I did not see this one coming, I was ready to dislike it. Instead, it becomes (at time of reviewing) my second favourite Sandler film; behind 'Click'.