That's My Boy (2012 film)
2012 film directed by Sean Anders

That's My Boy is a 2012 American comedy film directed by Sean Anders, written by David Caspe, and produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Heather Parry, and Allen Covert. It stars Sandler and Andy Samberg, with Leighton Meester and James Caan. It also stars Vanilla Ice, Tony Orlando, Will Forte, Milo Ventimiglia, and Susan Sarandon in supporting roles. The film follows Donny Berger (Sandler), a middle-aged alcoholic who once enjoyed celebrity status for being at the center of a teacher-student statutory rape case, as he tries to rekindle his relationship with his adult son, Todd Peterson/Han Solo Berger (Samberg), born as the result of that illicit relationship, in hopes that their televised reunion will earn him enough money to avoid going to prison for his tax debts.
Produced by Columbia Pictures and Sandler's Happy Madison Productions in association with Relativity Media, That's My Boy was released in the United States on June 15, 2012, by Sony Pictures Releasing, to a critical and commercial failure, grossing only $57.7 million against a $57.5–70 million budget and was negatively reviewed by critics. It is commonly cited as one of the worst movies ever made.
Plot
In 1984, in Massachusetts, a teenage Donny Berger develops an infatuation with his middle-school teacher, Mary McGarricle. At first, Mary seems repulsed by Donny's flirtations and punishes him with a month of detention. However, during this detention, she unexpectedly seduces Donny, and the two begin a sexual relationship. Their affair is publicly exposed during an auditorium assembly, leading to Mary's arrest and conviction for statutory rape.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “That's My Boy (2012 film)” is 2012 film directed by Sean Anders. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through That's, film and directed, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “2012 film directed by Sean Anders” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q32535. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012 and 1984.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “That's My Boy (2012 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow That's My Boy (2012 film) primary sources, That's My Boy (2012 film) archive and That's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “That's My Boy (2012 film)”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “That's My Boy (2012 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.