In the past five years, Robert De Niro, one of the greatest film actors ever, has starred in two Best Picture nominees (Joker and The Irishman) and two movies with “grandpa” in the title. Now that’s what I call range. The War with Grandpa — which is not a gritty sequel to Dirty Grandpa — is a family-friendly comedy about a technologically-averse old man moving into his grandson’s room. The grandson, as you might imagine, is not thrilled with this development, so he basically tries to murder his elderly gramps. You thought the talk show scene in Joker was dark? Wait until you see The War with Grandpa.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Sixth-grader Peter (Oakes Fegley) is pretty much your average kid—he likes gaming, hanging with his friends and his beloved pair of Air Jordans. But when his recently widowed grandfather Ed (Robert De Niro) moves in with Peter’s family, the boy is forced to give up his most prized possession of all, his bedroom. Unwilling to let such an injustice stand, Peter devises a series of increasingly elaborate pranks to drive out the interloper, but Grandpa Ed won’t go without a fight. Soon, the friendly combatants are engaged in an all-out war with side-splitting consequences.
The War with Grandpa, which also stars Christopher Walken, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour, comes out on October 9.