That's My Boy - C-

Rated R, 110 minutes

Moronic and sexist, "That's My Boy" is better Sandler, sort of

Andy Samberg (left) and Adam Sandler (right)

Well, at least it’s better than last year’s “Jack and Jill.” That might not be saying much about the new Adam Sandler comedy “That’s My Boy” but it’s true. Tacky, sexist and with an offensively icky prologue, it provides more guilty-pleasure laughs than you care to admit.  Sandler is Donny Berger, a New England teen who fathered a son with his teacher, Mary McGarricle (Eva Amurri younger, her real-life mother Susan Sarandon older) who is sent off to prison while he becomes famous. His son Han Solo Berger (Andy Samberg) grows up, becomes a successful investor and changes his name to Todd Peterson,  and disowns him. But as Todd/Han is about to get married to his love Christina (Leighton Meester), Donny reappears hoping to get the $43,000 he needs to pay off the IRS to avoid jail. “That’s My Boy” is profane, exceeding immature and moronic (again, no surprise given its source) yet more watchable than some of Sandler's outings, and for several reasons.  First, he actually hired a different director and writer from many of his other films: it's directed by Sean Anders of “Hot Tub Time Machine” fame and written by David Caspe of TV’s spot-on funny “Happy Endings,” and both take Sandler out of his typically annoying, unfunny comic routines as of late (take note Dennis Dugan) and provide him with an actual plot (note to Sandler: no more goofy voices). Second, it pairs Sandler with the usually funny current “Saturday Night Live” vet Andy Samberg, and their inspired chemistry is the chief highlight of the film (favorite: piercing Sandberg’s ear). Third, it's filled with a large string of unlikely yet stellar supporting characters who nearly steal the film from the leads, including NFL coach Rex Ryan, Vanilla Ice, Todd Bridges, Ciara, Luenelle, Milo Ventimiglia and singer Tony Orlando (yes that Tony Orlando), not to mention James Caan, Susan Sarandon, Ian Ziering, Will Forte and many others. “That’s My Boy” goes on way too long, is very Rated R and certainly not for kids, particularly an uncomfortable subplot that occurs in the last act, but Sandler, who hasn’t been on any favorite list especially after the dreadful “Grown Ups” and “Jack and Jill,” recovers some of his comic mojo again. Even with that, “That’s My Boy" aims low and relies too much on sexist, gross-out humor to be recommended, but it's still better than Sandler's recent efforts, which is in fact, saying a whole lot.