Tag: Adam Sandler

Big Daddy (1999) Film Review

Nature called. Look who answered.

Rating 12
Length 1h34
Release 01.10.1999
Director Dennis Dugan
About An irresponsible Koufax is dumped by his girlfriend for an older man. He adopts a five-year-old boy to impress her. But after spending time with him, he decides to become the father the boy needs.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

The Good

I enjoyed the final act court case.

I loved the apartment. For however impractical it was, I want to live in it.

I’ve got to admit, the treating Julian like he’s a dog and just covering pee and vomit with papers was funny. I’ll give the film that.

The Bad

I know the Sprouse twins were only seven, but what directions were they given to have such an appalling performance? There’s a whine they use whenever they speak and it is a performance rather than how they actually speak. So annoying.

Rob Schneider does another Simpsons-esque accent that feels like it’s taking the piss to get a laugh rather than it being a genuinely funny character.

Leslie Mann’s character. Mann can play uptight really well, but this character was… well, it was shit and she absolutely deserves more.

The Ugly

This is one of Sandler’s shouter movies. I’m guessing some audiences find it funny, given it became a staple of his films, but for me it grates and at no point is it funny.

The set up of the plot is mindnumbingly dumb. While Uncle Buck and 3 Men and a baby successful set up a believable situation in which someone unprepared for parenthood is placed in a situation that helps them mature.
However, there’s no real motivation for Sandler’s Sonny to take on a young kid that isn’t his and the inclusion of social services just makes the set up convoluted.

Final Thoughts

This film could have been Uncle Buck meets 3 Men and a Baby, but it falls very short.

50 First Dates (2004) Film Review

Imagine having to win over the girl of your dreams… every friggin’ day!

Rating 12
Length 1h39
Release 09.04.2004
Director Peter Segal
About Henry, against the idea of a committed romance with women, meets Lucy and is smitten with her. She too likes him. But unhappiness visits him when he realises she suffers from short-term memory loss.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

The Good

The Barrymore/ Sandler chemistry is still as good as ever. It’s a really sweet love story.

I love the lengths the father and son go to for Lucy to keep her happy and safe.

It’s a typical Happy Madison production, so you know what you’re getting when you  . The standard comedy and at least one shouty rant by Sandler. He’s playing it a little more straight that usual which fits with the tone of the film.

The Bad

This is a really difficult one as I’m aware that Rob Schneider is Filipina on his maternal side. However, it is not so much his own ethnicity, but the performance that makes the role problematic. It’s a brown-face performance, particularly the accent.

The Ugly

The inclusion of Sea World is a really uncomfortable to watch in the light of all that we now know about their treatment of animals. Yes, the movies do have set standards to ensure that the needs of animals are put first and that standards are met in terms of treatment. However, this acts as an advertisement for the zoological institutions and the overall treatment of the animals in captivity are not governed or monitored by the movies.

Final Thoughts

First time of watching it since 2005, and I’m pretty certain I can go just as long before seeing it again.

The Wedding Singer (1998) Film Review

Rating 12
Length 1h37
Release 05.06.1998
Director Frank Coraci
About When Robbie Hart, a wedding singer, meets Julia, a waitress, he promises to sing at her marriage, but unaware of what destiny has in store, the two plan on spending their lives with separate people.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

The Good

A plot that’s not too dissimilar to Serendipity (2001), a film I absolutely hated, The Wedding Singer shows how you can do a romance film in which both leads are with other people, yet you still root for them to be together.
Firstly, we don’t meet Robbie’s fiancé until she’s left him at the alter. As an audience, we already dislike her. Then, with Julia, we have a more traditional ‘doomed couple’ trope; she airs misgivings right from the get go, there’s outside social pressure, and in case we’re left in any doubt, Glenn is a sleaze ball of epic proportions.
Secondly, the friendship is built up first and we them gradually fall in love. The time spent together never feels date like. It also doesn’t feel cruel that Robbie is helping with Julia’s wedding plans given his employment. I do also really like that Robbie is held accountable by Holly and reminded that Julia is getting married. That doesn’t happen very often in films and all morality and ethics go out the window for the romance of it all.
Finally, there’s chemistry between the two. It’s commented on by a fair few people throughout the film and you can genuinely see the chemistry while the authenticity of them believing they are just friends works, even if others and the audience don’t.

The soundtrack is incredible. The best of the 80s for your listening pleasure. Not to mention the use of a String Quartet playing a pop cover… before it was mainstream. *chef’s kiss*

That final act on the plane is perfect. Funny, wholesome and satisfying. Most importantly. Robbie manages to get the girl without having to resort to telling her about Glenn’s sleazy antics.

The Bad

Fat and ugly jokes. It’s a common joke in Sandler movies. It sucks, but even more so in this because Robbie is a really sweet guy.

Did they really have Julia marry Robbie in the dress that was bought for her marriage with Glenn?! The marriage that caused a lot of heartache?! Come on, I know there’s the expense, but movie romance here…. give Julia another fucking dress!

The Ugly

It is an Adam Sandler shouty film. Not his worst, by any means, but it is the worst thing about this film. It’s early enough in his career so its not all one note, but it gets particularly loud towards the 45 minute mark.

Final Thoughts

A funny and sweet film that I cannot believe I’ve not watched more.

That’s My Boy (2012)

Rating 15
Length 1h 56
Release 7.9.2012
Director Sean Anderson
About While still a teen himself, Donny (Adam Sandler) fathered a son, Todd (Andy Samberg), and raised him as a single parent. On Todd’s 18th birthday, Donny cut the youth loose. After years of estrangement, the older man shows up unexpectedly on the eve of his son’s wedding day, sending the young man’s life into a tailspin. Donny wants desperately to reconnect with Todd, but he must now deal with the repercussions of the bad parenting he exhibited in the past.

The Good?

  • It eventually finishes. Eventually.
  • I laughed. Twice. That was it.

The Very Bad

  • Andy Samberg is completely wrong for the character he’s playing. Its more for the likes of Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Josh Gad or Jonah Hill. Samberg didn’t quite pull off the meek, timid and uncool look so his evolution doesn’t really appear.
  • The Sandler voice makes an appearance. I hate it. There’s no need for it and Sandler is better than that. It’s an indication that his character is going to be stupid, but it’s just shit.
  • Some of the jokes are just really, really bad. They’re at the expense of people who are lovely in the film and that just sucks.

The horrifically Ugly

  • The teacher-pupil relationship. Okay, my bad for not reading up on about the film before hand, but seriously?! Are we not done already with using rape (statutory in this case) for comedy. I’ve said it before, but films like this that capitalised on the comic relief of female sexual predators are so dangerous. As always, you put a woman deemed ‘unattractive’ by social standards and its no longer funny and everyone would be up in arms.
  • The Grandma cleaning up all the wank rags. There’s only one other film that’s made me physically throw up and that was the Saw movie that had people drown in an industrial vat of mulched pig carcases.
  • As if that’s not all bad enough, the final act reveals that Todd’s fiancé has been fucking someone else. The brother. Yes, this film decides sex with a minor is not gross enough, so adds incest to the mix.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, had it not been for Andy Samberg, I’d have never even given this the time of day. This is worse than Freddy Got Fingered and should be avoided at all costs.