GROW UP ALREADY

The comedy film landscape in recent years has been littered with tales about the immature manchild. You know, the guy who still wants to act like he’s in high school (or younger), eshewing all responsibility and generally coasting through an unremarkable life. Grow Up Already is a short film manchild comedy to the extreme.

Still wearing diapers, hand-fed by his parents and sleeping in a crib, despite appearing to be in his low-to-mid-thirties, Andy’s (Johnny Simmons) arrested development is too much for his girlfriend (Odette Annable) to deal with anymore. After she leaves him, Andy is forced to confront his life and, with the help of his equally child-like friend Bunky (Ethan Suplee), makes the conscious decision to finally grow up.

Sure, it’s mainly a one-note affair, but the execution is funny and, for a comedy short, that’s pretty much what you want to see. And while it takes the manchild motif to a literal extreme, it works by painting the more complex feelings of growth and maturity with a cartoonish brush. Plus, at 10 minutes, it doesn’t wear out its welcome, or the joke, while still giving us character growth for Andy. In the end, it’s a funny short film about that moment where we have to become the masters of our own lives, and the arduous work that can follow such a decision (I can’t imagine re-potty training).

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