Am I missing something here? Are people actually going to movie after movie starring Adam Sandler in droves to see a good movie? Have I missed the boat somehow by skipping "Billy Madison", "Happy Gillmore", and "The Waterboy"?
I can breathe sigh of relief. I now know why I missed those wonderful opportunities to see these and other Sandler movies; I saw them coming a mile away and steered clear to avoid wasting two hours of my life. Ah, yes, its all clear now. "Big Daddy" has shown me what I have been missing, and boy, it ain't much.
Actually, I have witnessed the other movies listed above, belatedly, and that is why I feel qualified to say that Sandler has created his own niche of bad movies, a new genre. Call it Sandlerania, if you will. In any case, they all follow the same basic formula. His character starts out as a loser, an implausible event occurs that gives him a purpose, and he emerges victorious in the face of impossible odds. Usually there is at least one attractive woman lurking nearby, but not nearly as noticeable as the product placements that fill every scene.
"Big Daddy" continues this proud tradition with the story of Sonny Koufax, a loser who spends one day a week working as a tollbooth operator, and the rest of the time living off a large settlement he got from being hit by a car. His girlfriend wants him to move on with his life, maybe go back to law school, but Sonny is far too self-absorbed, and she walks out on him. This is the smartest thing anyone does in this movie.
He shares a luxurious studio with his successful roommate but is dismayed to learn that he will soon be getting married. While his roommate takes off on a business trip, Sonny has a kid literally dropped onto his doorstep one day, with a note explaining that this is his roommate's son.
He goes through the usual period of standoffishness, but quickly decides he sort of likes the kid, and with the hastiness of someone deciding to get a puppy, he arranges to adopt him as a way of proving to his ex that he really can be mature when he wants to be. Too bad she's already hooked up with a guy old enough to be her father (prompting a series of lame insults about getting old from Sonny), and Sonny finds himself stuck with the kid when he is astonished to learn that he can't just return him.
The kid (named Kevin), a 6-year old played by Jon Stewart, isn't bad as kid performances go, but what's interesting is the way it was difficult to tell their personalities apart. Sonny has the mentality of a 6-year old, so they make a good pair. However, if cases like these are any indication, it is small wonder that the DYS has taken a lot of damage to its image lately. Sonny's favorite ways to spend time with Kevin involve tripping skaters in the park and showing off to his friends how he can "hock a loogie". Ho ho. When the kid needs to go to the bathroom, Sonny tries to use one in a stuffy upscale restaurant but is turned away by the maitre'd. He and the kid urinate on the front door instead. Ho ho, again. There is an extended scene when they go out for breakfast which plays like a drawn-out product placement for MacDonald's.
I guess this is supposed to be funny, but I did not laugh once during "Big Daddy". I was too busy thinking about how screwed up this kid would be when he got older. In any case, Sonny meets a love interest, played by Joey Lauren Adams, who figures into the plot so meaninglessly that I wondered why they threw her in at all. It all comes down to that old standby, the courtroom scene, where Sonny argues for his right to adopt the kid. He argues that he has gone through a journey of self-discovery that has made him a better person. It is a waste of film to portray this, since 2 hours is exactly 1 hour and 59 minutes more time than it would take for someone with Sonny's depth of personality to complete this journey.
The problem with Sandler's films is that they are too obviously written to be a vehicle for him. I do not argue that he can be a funny stand-up comic; his work on Saturday Night Live would support this. But he's too hit or miss to carry a whole movie by himself, and the writing is so contrived, with one obligatory scene after another, I just can't be compelled to care. I wouldn't mind seeing Sandler as a supporting character in a movie with some intelligence. And a lot fewer product placements.
I can breathe sigh of relief. I now know why I missed those wonderful opportunities to see these and other Sandler movies; I saw them coming a mile away and steered clear to avoid wasting two hours of my life. Ah, yes, its all clear now. "Big Daddy" has shown me what I have been missing, and boy, it ain't much.
Actually, I have witnessed the other movies listed above, belatedly, and that is why I feel qualified to say that Sandler has created his own niche of bad movies, a new genre. Call it Sandlerania, if you will. In any case, they all follow the same basic formula. His character starts out as a loser, an implausible event occurs that gives him a purpose, and he emerges victorious in the face of impossible odds. Usually there is at least one attractive woman lurking nearby, but not nearly as noticeable as the product placements that fill every scene.
"Big Daddy" continues this proud tradition with the story of Sonny Koufax, a loser who spends one day a week working as a tollbooth operator, and the rest of the time living off a large settlement he got from being hit by a car. His girlfriend wants him to move on with his life, maybe go back to law school, but Sonny is far too self-absorbed, and she walks out on him. This is the smartest thing anyone does in this movie.
He shares a luxurious studio with his successful roommate but is dismayed to learn that he will soon be getting married. While his roommate takes off on a business trip, Sonny has a kid literally dropped onto his doorstep one day, with a note explaining that this is his roommate's son.
He goes through the usual period of standoffishness, but quickly decides he sort of likes the kid, and with the hastiness of someone deciding to get a puppy, he arranges to adopt him as a way of proving to his ex that he really can be mature when he wants to be. Too bad she's already hooked up with a guy old enough to be her father (prompting a series of lame insults about getting old from Sonny), and Sonny finds himself stuck with the kid when he is astonished to learn that he can't just return him.
The kid (named Kevin), a 6-year old played by Jon Stewart, isn't bad as kid performances go, but what's interesting is the way it was difficult to tell their personalities apart. Sonny has the mentality of a 6-year old, so they make a good pair. However, if cases like these are any indication, it is small wonder that the DYS has taken a lot of damage to its image lately. Sonny's favorite ways to spend time with Kevin involve tripping skaters in the park and showing off to his friends how he can "hock a loogie". Ho ho. When the kid needs to go to the bathroom, Sonny tries to use one in a stuffy upscale restaurant but is turned away by the maitre'd. He and the kid urinate on the front door instead. Ho ho, again. There is an extended scene when they go out for breakfast which plays like a drawn-out product placement for MacDonald's.
I guess this is supposed to be funny, but I did not laugh once during "Big Daddy". I was too busy thinking about how screwed up this kid would be when he got older. In any case, Sonny meets a love interest, played by Joey Lauren Adams, who figures into the plot so meaninglessly that I wondered why they threw her in at all. It all comes down to that old standby, the courtroom scene, where Sonny argues for his right to adopt the kid. He argues that he has gone through a journey of self-discovery that has made him a better person. It is a waste of film to portray this, since 2 hours is exactly 1 hour and 59 minutes more time than it would take for someone with Sonny's depth of personality to complete this journey.
The problem with Sandler's films is that they are too obviously written to be a vehicle for him. I do not argue that he can be a funny stand-up comic; his work on Saturday Night Live would support this. But he's too hit or miss to carry a whole movie by himself, and the writing is so contrived, with one obligatory scene after another, I just can't be compelled to care. I wouldn't mind seeing Sandler as a supporting character in a movie with some intelligence. And a lot fewer product placements.