Paige Becker
Professor Robert Bomboy
Humanities 101
May 1, 2016
Critique of Blended
I decided to critique the movie Blended, written by Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera, and directed by
Frank Coraci. I decided to critique the way that the music is used in this film
to evoke a strong emotional response.
The plot of this movie consists of two single parents
that are set up on a blind date. The one parent, a mother to two boys, is
played by Drew Barrymore; the other parent is a father to three young girls,
and is played by Adam Sandler. This movie is very relatable to many families
because there are many families that are blended families in today’s society.
Meaning families that consists of children from different marriages coming
together when their parents get married. It shows that even though it may be
tough in the beginning, blended families really can be great. Both of the
families in the movie end up in the same resort in Africa for an amazing family
vacation, which is why a large portion of the music has a tribal feel to it.
The eldest of the three daughters, Hilary (played by
Bella Thorne), is in a scene at the beginning of the movie where she is looking
at herself in the mirror. Any girl that is a teenager knows what it is like to
spend quite a few minutes just look in the mirror, and that was what she was
doing. The song, that plays during this emotional seen of her wishing her body
was different, is ‘”Miss Movin’ On”, by the girl group Fifth Harmony. The reason
that this music relates so well to this scene is that it would be a song that a
teenage girl of this time period would be listening to as they are getting
ready to go to school. The song discusses that a strong woman can overcome
anything and to keep moving on.
Another scene in the movie that evokes a strong emotional
response is when Adam Sandler’s daughter is walking down a huge staircase,
after getting a head to toe makeover. In the beginning of the movie, Hilary
rocked a boy-like haircut and sports apparel. The songs that played during the
huge reveal was “I’m Every Woman” by the artist Chaka Khan, then “I’ll Make
Love to You”, by Boyz II Men, and lastly “It’s the End of the World As We Knew
It” by R.E.M. The first song is played when Lauren sees what a great job the beauticians
did for Hilary, and shows the “girl-power” that is metaphorically being passed
from the soon to be step-mom to the soon to be step-daughter. The second song
is played when Hilary’s crush sees her walking down the staircase and sees the
new Hilary. The third song is a heart-string puller in this scene because Jim
is seeing, what he used to view as his young tom-boy daughter, now that she is
a woman. This part is personally one of my favorite parts of the whole movie,
because Lauren had all of the cosmetics done for Hilary and it was the first
step in the family really blending together. It is a tear-jerking moment that
is heightened by the music.
The entire movie is set in Africa which is also proved
through the music that is played throughout the entire movie. A great example
of a song that evoked a strong emotional response to a particular scene was
when the two families went out on a two day safari adventure while in Africa.
The song, “Wamkelekile” by the artist Hot Water, is played during this part of
the movie several times. The song is a very upbeat and happy song, and also
sounds like music that you would here while out on a safari ride in Africa.
This song is a perfect example of how the film incorporated music that would
heighten the emotional response of the viewers.
Overall I never really gave much thought to the role that
music played within a film, but after contemplating it, it plays a huge role. The
actors were very relatable and were going through situations that happen to
many families in the United States. I believe that the movie production and
outcome was a huge success and the message about blended families showed through
in this film. The music heightens the experience of the scenes of the movie and
without it, many movies would not be as enjoyable to watch. At the next movie
night, I strongly suggest this movie, it is funny movie, but also ties in great
to what many families are going through on an everyday basis.
