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 Something
has to be done about Adam Sandler.
The Adam Sandler
phenomenon could be a study in American pop culture - emperor’s
new clothes syndrome. Somewhere along the way we as moviegoers
collectively decided that Adam Sandler is funny regardless of
what he actually puts out. This is why his movies automatically
pull in tens of millions of dollars. It certainly isn’t because
he’s funny. Not anymore.
Nicky is an
abused younger brother and child of Satan, literally. Satan (played
by Harvey Keitel, a well respected actor who should know better)
must decide who should ascend to the throne as the new prince
of darkness. He must decide between the painfully good-hearted,
endearing Nicky and his two power hungry brothers Cassius (Tom
“Tiny” Lister Jr.) and Adrian (Rhys Ifans). Satan, in
his infinite wisdom, decides against either of the wicked brothers
or mild mannered Nicky and keeps the throne for himself. The frustrated
brothers go up to Earth in order to create their own hell by manipulating
people. A rash decision motivated by impatience and pride? I smell
a life lesson. Unfortunately, this disrupts the balance between
earth and hell, leaving Satan in a dangerous position. It’s
up to Nicky to get his brothers back and save his father. In the
process, Nicky will learn a little bit about life, love and facing
challenges. His guide is a talking bulldog who teaches Nicky the
wonders of the world, such as Popeye’s chicken. He gets an
apartment with a gay roommate (because there are gay people in
the big city – yikes!). Nicky befriends two Satan worshipping
metal fans. He also runs into a sweet art student from Parsons
(played by Patricia Arquette).
It’s
only a comedy, the strength of the movie isn’t in a fresh
plot. But, it doesn’t have to be formulaic either. Adam Sandler’s
movies always seem to feature a character that is really flawed
but has one endearing trait that makes him sweet. Billy Madison
is a moron who never made it past the first grade but he’ll
come to the aid of his friend who peed in his pants. Happy Gilmore
is a violent hockey player turned golfer who needs to look after
his grandmother. Sonny Koufax (from Big Daddy) is immature and
irresponsible but is disarmed by the child he uses to scam his
girlfriend. He has proven that he can go too far to achieve this.
He’s been putting out films like The Waterboy and this new
film, Little Nicky, in which he acts mentally challenged in order
to appear sweet. It doesn’t work. It only makes him look
stupid.
Now, you might
be saying to yourself “critics should just lighten up, it’s
no big deal”. The fact is that I’m saying all of this
because I care. I really do. I’ve been with Sandler since
the beginning. I don’t mean Billy Madison. I’m not even
talking about Saturday Night Live. I’m talking about MTV’s
Half-hour Comedy Hour, Remote Control, Stand-up Stand-up on Comedy
Central, even The Cosby Show. That’s right, The Cosby Show.
He was one of Theo’s high school buddies. I’ve seen
him rise and lately I’ve become very disappointed. People,
it’s time for some tough love. It’s not that I think
that his style of humor is juvenile. Billy Madison still stands
up as a funny film. So does Happy Gilmore. He even manages to
pull off that sweet guy thing in The Wedding Singer. However,
The Waterboy and Big Daddy should not have been made. People beg
for more Adam Sandler movies without even asking for quality.
Unless we demand more from Adam Sandler, he’s just going
to keep churning out drivel. Whatever idea pops into his head
turns into a script and soon it’s in theaters.
The film managed
to be mildly amusing in parts due only to all of the cameos. Kevin
Nealon, Dana Carvey, Harvey Keitel, Rodney Dangerfield, Rob Schneider,
Jon Lovitz, Carl Weathers, Reese Witherspoon, John Witherspoon,
Quentin Tarantino, Michael McKean, Ellen Cleghorn and even the
Harlem Globetrotters made the flick bearable. This movie has a
few moments. It’s hard not to like Kevin Nealon with breasts
on his head or watching Hitler get a pineapple where the sun don’t
shine. The weakest link was Sandler’s sappy, annoying portrayal
of Nicky.
Adam Sandler
needs your help. Rent Billy Madison and keep your $9.50 for when
he starts making funny movies again.
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