Blended is a romantic comedy that reunites the team from The Wedding Singer – director Coraci and stars Sandler and Barrymore. And the story is familiar – boy meets girl, they hate each other, they’re forced to spend time together, they fall for each other (sorry, that should have been a spoiler, but if you couldn’t see that coming you’re likely blind and can’t read this review anyway).

Lauren (Barrymore) and Jim (Sandler) are two single parents, struggling to raise their children alone. We find them on a blind date (at Hooters, that most romantic of locations) – and it is not going well. Neither is upset when the date is cut short.

But fate isn’t done with them, and before long they both find themselves on a trip, with their kids, to Africa, where they will have to become a ‘blended’ family and share their time together. For the sake of their kids, they’re going to have to try and get along… in public at least.

The Wedding Singer was certainly one of Sandler’s best films, eschewing the toilet humour of his less successful projects for some really engaging characters and allowing the comedy to come naturally. Blended manages to capture some of that, especially in the scenes with Sandler and Barrymore alone, but it is interspersed with much less funny, forced scenes more reminiscent of Grown Ups. There are laughs to be had but there is a better film in here trying its best to get out.