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“He is the patron saint of annoyance.”
April 22, 2018 6:16 PM Subscribe

Actually, Adam Sandler Is a Genius [Vice] “A low-brow comedy ingénue who skyrocketed to blockbuster success with a string of formulaic family comedies, Sandler’s brand eventually turned self-cannibalistic, tedious, and infuriating—yet, remained profitable. In the shadow of the Happy Madison factory, however, is a Wonka-like figure whose abilities are misunderstood. To me, Sandler remains one of the most enigmatic performers of his generation: a man that can star in Punch Drunk Love and Mr. Deeds in the same year. It’s easy to hate the cynical dreck he’s put out, and his hacky performances therein.”

? Adam Sandler’s DGAF Phase Will Never End, and Maybe It Shouldn’t [The Ringer]

“Possibly the central idea here is that Sandler and Netflix are uncommonly suited for each other, in that he specializes in precisely the sort of loud but passive, flashy but cheap, not-great-but-who-cares stunts that aren’t so much movies as half-cynical Events on the order of Bright or The Cloverfield Paradox. Something about the very act of firing up a movie on Netflix feels ultra-casual and pointedly prestige-averse: It somehow feels like an insult to your intelligence if the people onscreen are putting on airs or for that matter trying at all. All these years later, his movies still feel like overgrown and undercooked SNL sketches, the seams visible, the tone erratic, the comedy actually sharper when the entire conceit threatens to collapse. The whole point of a Netflix-exclusive movie is you aren’t supposed to think too hard about it; you don’t even have to really watch it while you’re watching it.”

? Adam Sandler Is One of the World’s Best Actors, and His New Role Suggests He Finally Realizes It [Indie Wire]

“Last summer, in IndieWire’s review of “The Meyerowitz Stories,” this critic wrote that “It remains hugely frustrating how great Adam Sandler can be when he’s not making Adam Sandler movies.” If it didn’t seem necessary to hash out the distinction between a movie with Adam Sandler, and an Adam Sandler Movie, that’s only because the difference between the two is ridiculously obvious. The former category includes fiercely beloved masterpieces like “Punch-Drunk Love” and “Funny People.” The latter category includes minor crimes against humanity like “That’s My Boy” and “Grown Ups 2.” If you see him in something directed by James L. Brooks, someone who idolizes James L. Brooks, or even by someone who’s met James L. Brooks, then you’re probably watching a movie with Adam Sandler. If you see him in something that co-stars David Spade, features a scene where Shaquille O’Neal throws someone over a house, and/or involves a plot point about his character having sex with Vanilla Ice’s mom, then it’s safe to assume you’re watching an Adam Sandler Movie.”

? Has Adam Sandler Been Trolling Us this Whole Time? [Highsnobiety]

“There are two ways to view Sandler’s career, and critics have made both arguments. Either he periodically appears in prestige projects as a brand-building detour from his main pursuit of soulless money making or he is a frustrated “serious artist,” who is rarely offered more serious opportunities. You don’t have to look far to find arguments like The Washington Post’s Michael E. Miller’s “Adam Sandler is awful, and it’s our fault,” in which he claimed Sandler “was stung by poor box office response to his more serious roles.” Only Sandler knows which of these is true, or if it is a little bit of both. All we have to look at is a career in which an actor who appears in a prolific run of terrible movies gets a seven-year itch for prestige, and earns critical adulation, only to go back to the schlock he was doing before. Every few years, Adam Sandler gives us a performance that looks like it might change the trajectory of his career, but then a sequel to Little Nicky or Don’t Mess With the Zohan beckons and he just can’t help himself. We might have to wait until he has told his last fart joke and hung up his prosthetics for a full appraisal of Sandler’s career. It might take a memoir or biography to get at the root of his career choices.”

? Meet the Man Who Is Watching One Adam Sandler Movie Every Day for the Next Year [Exlaim!*@#]

“Adam Sandler has been a constant in my life since I was a child. I grew up watching him on SNL and obsessing over his albums and movies. I used to sneak a tape recorder into movie theaters and record audio from movies so I could listen over and over and memorize dialogues. I can't tell you how many arguments i've had over the years defending him. In 2016 I made this curated chronological playlist of his movies and stayed up all night with a bunch of friends to watch it. We called it SandlerCon and everyone came in costume as their favorite characters and I made a five-course menu inspired by his movies (ex: meatball served directly on your hand). It was really fun and stupid and we did again this year. I bought a huge prize wheel and put all of his movies on it and we spun it for 24 hours and watched whatever it landed on. That's kind of where the idea was born. I'm kind of a masochist and love endurance tests so I figured it would be fun and dumb to pair that with my genuine love of the Sandman.”

posted by Fizz (43 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite

Accidentally hit post too soon, this is also worth noting:

? Adam Sandler’s ugly track record with race: The dumb, offensive, unfunny movie moments that came before “The Ridiculous Six” [Salon]

“Adam Sandler is probably not a racist, but his movies definitely have a long history of racial insensitivity. If anything, it’s surprising that he hasn’t been called out about this (at least on a larger scale) until now. As the moviegoing world learned last week, roughly a dozen Native American actors walked off the set of Sandler’s upcoming comedy “The Ridiculous Six” to protest his depiction of Apaches. Among other things, they were offended by the various vulgar puns used as character names (e.g., Beaver’s Breath, No Bra, Sits-on-Face), a scene in which a Native American woman is shown squatting down to urinate while smoking a peace pipe, and the fact that the costumes resorted to visual stereotypes instead of accurately representing how Apaches looked. The inevitable hashtag movement protesting the film sums up the fundamental complaint rather succinctly: #NotYourHollywoodIndian”

posted by Fizz at 6:20 PM on April 22, 2018 [8 favorites]

I always thought Adam Sandler did Adam Sandler movies to make easy money, employ his friends and have a bit of fun in the process. That way he could concentrate on more serious roles that didn't pay really well.

I was under the impression that's what most A list actors do. Or think they do. I'm reminded of other trainwrecks (it seems), like Ben Affleck:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-great-sadness-of-ben-affleck
posted by alex_skazat at 6:44 PM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

A lot of the great English actors would appear in anything, if it paid enough. Gin ain't free.
posted by thelonius at 7:16 PM on April 22, 2018 [16 favorites]

"Sandler’s brand eventually turned self-cannibalistic, tedious, and infuriating"

eventually

eventually
posted by mwhybark at 7:19 PM on April 22, 2018 [10 favorites]

It seems clear that Sandler has talent, but only uses it very, very occasionally. Instead, he chooses to line his pockets making exceedingly horrible crap like Jack & Jill.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:24 PM on April 22, 2018 [7 favorites]

I have not like Adam Sandler since Remote Control* but holy cow was he great in The Meyerowitz Stories. Unfortunately, I watched it a day or two before the Dustin Hoffman news broke, so I didn't post it to Fanfare. But I think it's an Oscar-worthy performance.

*All versions of The Hanukah song excepted.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:33 PM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

eventually

Even as a teen who loved Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, everything past that was complete garbage, and the only reason those two aren't garbage to me is mostly due to nostalgia and that they hadn't hammered the same tired story of "manchild finding beautiful woman who makes him less of a child to win her heart" into the ground yet.

Also, Chris Farley and Steve Buscemi both killed in Madison, in my opinion.
posted by deadaluspark at 7:35 PM on April 22, 2018 [8 favorites]

Sandler's underdog sports movies, Happy Gilmore and The Water Boy, are standout comedies and well worth the watch. Surprisingly, the Hotel Transylvania franchise is, too. It helps he has an assist from a sublime comedic cast that includes Mel Brooks.

The rest of his work is iffy at best.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:56 PM on April 22, 2018

I had to watch That's My Boy for work (because a library patron made a formal request to have it removed from the collection; basically, the complaint was that it did not, in the words of the library's Materials Selection Policy, "expand an individual's understanding of the world in which they live" or "inform and increase an individual's ability to function effectively as a member of society"). Watching it was an unpleasant chore and messed my Netflix recommendations up for like a year; I sympathized with the complaint but could not recommend it for withdrawal.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:58 PM on April 22, 2018 [28 favorites]

I like that patron and would like to buy them a beer.
posted by Grandysaur at 8:24 PM on April 22, 2018 [24 favorites]

I ... could not recommend it for withdrawal.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:58 PM on April 22 [+] [!]

There's a solitary man cryin', "hold me"
It's only because he's a-lonely

I get it, CC. I get it.
posted by mwhybark at 8:25 PM on April 22, 2018

Half the time you give Sandler some money you get Spanglish and the other half of the time you get I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. I always thought that was weird, but I guess some people are mad about it?

Maybe someday he'll settle down enough for critics to put him in a category, but I'll be happy if he just makes some more rom-coms with Drew Barrymore.
posted by Horkus at 8:34 PM on April 22, 2018

I think too often people assume that just because a person is good at something, they want to do it. It's very possible that Adam Sandler much prefers making his terrible movies, and doesn't have a lot of interest in being a more dramatic or engaging performer. I remember a British comic in a TV documentary about Rowan Atkinson saying that Atkinson hates performing, but does it because it's the only thing he's really good at and it's the only way he can make a living. Perhaps there's an element of that to Adam Sandler.
posted by UltraMorgnus at 9:01 PM on April 22, 2018 [8 favorites]

It's very possible that Adam Sandler much prefers making his terrible movies, and doesn't have a lot of interest in being a more dramatic or engaging performer.

I think it's more likely that he enjoys making tremendous piles of money while putting in the minimum effort. And since he can, he does.

Spending your days making execrable garbage is probably not that bad if every night you sleep on a pile of hundred dollar bills and rolexes like a modern day Smaug.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:23 PM on April 22, 2018 [6 favorites]

Talented but lazy. I always felt like he made Punch Drunk Love to go serious after his first big run, succeeded, but the experience was too much work. Anger Management and Funny People felt like surface level attempts at the same lacking the effort and range,

PDL and Meyerowitz Stories are the only two really memorable entries on his resume, and Happy Gilmore but who knows how much of that is silly nostalgia, but damn was he great in them. More of that please,

oh .... Airheads, yes
posted by mannequito at 12:08 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is quite the thesis. Like, Malcolm Gladwell’s Galaxy Brain-level “turns out, bad thing is actually good”
posted by DoctorFedora at 3:48 AM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

I worked on the set of Little Nicky. Everyone knew it was terrible, and nobody minded because everyone was having so much fun just goofing around. There were a large number of extras during the basketball scenes, and Sandler and his buddies took that as a challenge to see who could get the biggest laugh from the crowd. It was like an SNL afterparty. Adam busted out his guitar, Chris Rock did an impromptu stand up set, Rob Schneider tried to top Rock (good luck) by busting out his (admittedly killer) Elvis impression, Spade and Nealon were heckling Dana Carvey when he repeatedly messed up a basketball shot. These guys were having a total blast, and something resembling a movie was released a few months later as a largely incidental byproduct of that hang session with his pals. Oh, and they all got paid to do it. (Well most of them did. I don't think Rock and Spade were even in the film, they just came by to hang out).
posted by Optamystic at 4:24 AM on April 23, 2018 [37 favorites]

This is quite the thesis. Like, Malcolm Gladwell’s Galaxy Brain-level “turns out, bad thing is actually good”

People bag on this genre of contrarian articles, but they are really very insightful.
posted by thelonius at 4:31 AM on April 23, 2018 [9 favorites]

Sandler screams and barks and hoots and coos through all those movies and most of the ones he’s made since, a one-man bestiary of funny voices, a sentimental potty-humor savant so sweet and unguarded he puts the pure in puerile.

I really liked the writing in some of these.
posted by salvia at 4:32 AM on April 23, 2018

Being able to make profitable movies year after year is itself a talent. It's a rare skill so the movie industry gravitates towards those who can do it. And maybe it's better to think of this as a talent for business or marketing rather than a talent of the auteur.

To be optimistic for a moment maybe we can think of Sandler movies as stealing megaplex screens away from the hundreds of even worse, more deservedly obscure Z-grade comedies that get released every year, rather than preventing rare gems from trickling upwards from festivals and repertory theaters into major release schedules.
posted by ardgedee at 4:45 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

People bag on this genre of contrarian articles, but they are really very insightful.

I see what you did there.
posted by adamgreenfield at 5:31 AM on April 23, 2018 [7 favorites]

Nobody's making anybody see Adam Sandler movies. I've never seen one. Well, other than a pirated copy of Hotel Transylvania because my kid wanted to see it. So maybe my kid is making a person watch Adam Sandler movies. But besides him, I think the world is fairly safe from unconsenting viewing of Adam Sandler movies.
posted by pracowity at 5:32 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Vice article forgot about Reign Over Me. It's not a truly great film, but Sandler shows he's got a bit more range than you'd expect.
posted by scruss at 6:19 AM on April 23, 2018

> Sandler and his buddies took that as a challenge to see who could get the biggest laugh from the crowd.

Not the crowd in the theatre, though.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:23 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

Funny People was very good, but I've never thought Adam Sandler was integral to its quality.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:08 AM on April 23, 2018

Adam Sandler is a prolific filmmaker. He may turn out mostly schlock, but he is certainly not lazy.

Like many other commenters, I'm in the PDL and Happy Gilmore camp, though I am incapable of determining (also like many others) how much of the HG goodwill is just nostalgia.

OK, I just re-watched the "pieces of shit for breakfast" scene and that is timelessly hilarious.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:23 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sandler’s comedies are problematic in a lot of places, but god they are fun. They seem exactly like the crap you’d want to make with friends, juvenile and yet joyful beyond words. You know those times you’re with friends and you’re laughing so hard at the dumbest jokes, and that is half the reason it’s so funny.

Sandler movies have that in spades, and he does a great job of making the audience feel like they’re part of the joke. It’s one thing to make a dumb comedy, but Sandler has a way of bringing the audience along you don’t often see.

Is this where we get to talk about our favorite Sandler films. By in far the one that tickles me the most and continues to do so is Don’t Mess With The Zohan, which I didn’t intend to see, but we were looking for a move and it was the only 9pm showing that hadn’t started yet. But boy, within moments of the film start, I knew I was in for something special.

Grandma’s Boy ranks up there too, which despite not having Adam Sandler in it, is absolutely an Adam Sandler movie.

I don’t know that I’ve ever actually sought out a Adam Sandler film. Either someone wanted me to see one, or it was on tv back when flipping through channels was a thing. There are probably huge gaps in my Sandler viewing history. And there are some that I just couldn’t give 10 minutes to. I know people whom I really respect who love Little Nicky. Everyone has their Sandler movie that speaks to them.

posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:38 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Optamystic's story reminds me of the old Gene Siskel line, "Is this film more interesting than a documentary about the same actors having lunch?"
posted by roll truck roll at 8:06 AM on April 23, 2018 [14 favorites]

There was a time when his humor felt radical and subversive. Half the people you knew loved it when he broke out a guitar and sang song a love song to his red sweater, and half the people you knew were totally mystified. Before Adam Sandler no one had seen that brand of comedy before. After Adam Sandler every two bit comedy troupe in the world had at least one guy who was an "Adam Sandler". That's huge.

He was originally supposed to play the part of the psychotic Jewish soldier in Inglourious Basterds. The title was even written in the dumbspeak Tarantino imagined Sandler saying it in. In my opinion, that role just didn't work without him doing it, but I can almost imagine him doing it in my head and he would have been terrific.

He had a string of really great comedic movies. He played a couple of serious roles and was amazing. Then his movies and roles became absolute garbage and now I find it hard to even look at him. But whatever, he earned his right to do that if he wants (sigh).
posted by xammerboy at 8:06 AM on April 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

It might seem pretentious of me, but I really don't think film should be treated as a sandbox for you and your buddies to play in just because you have the shitloads of money to do it. I'm tired of how familiar faces in Hollywood get to stick around far past the point of relevancy just because they are a dude with deep pockets. "Having fun" is not enough of a justification for this imo, rich guys can have all the damn fun they want without putting it on screen.

Also, the ridiculous 6 came out just a few years ago. Sandler's racist and sexist stuff is not something of the distant past.
posted by InkDrinker at 9:15 AM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

The only thing that matters to the studios is profit. No matter how bad they may be, if the films didn't make money, he wouldn't get to make more of them.
posted by Optamystic at 9:20 AM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

“Adam Sandler is probably not a racist, but his movies definitely have a long history of racial insensitivity."

If his movies have such a long history of racial insensitivity - and holy moly do they ever - how can it be said that he "probably" isn't a racist? Racism is something you do. He can have all the best intentions and kind thoughts and still do racism, as he has done, and is by definition a racist.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:50 AM on April 23, 2018 [12 favorites]

I always thought Adam Sandler did Adam Sandler movies to make easy money, employ his friends and have a bit of fun in the process. That way he could concentrate on more serious roles that didn't pay really well.

What serious roles? Even his role in Punch Drunk Love is just a variation on the same character he always plays.

maybe we can think of Sandler movies as stealing megaplex screens away from the hundreds of even worse, more deservedly obscure Z-grade comedies that get released every year

It's doubtful that any of those movies would've seen wide release anyway, and frankly I have a hard time imagining they're any worse than any Sandler movie. Let some new grifters take people's money instead of the same one every time.

The only thing that matters to the studios is profit. No matter how bad they may be, if the films didn't make money, he wouldn't get to make more of them.

Alright, you've convinced me. A dictatorship of the proletariat it is. We have nothing to lose but our shitty Adam Sandler movies.
posted by hyperbolic at 10:45 AM on April 23, 2018

1) Adam Sandler is always just plain annoying.
2) Punch Drunk Love is actually just bad.
posted by Artw at 4:10 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Well I'm convinced.
posted by rhizome at 4:50 PM on April 23, 2018

Cheri Oteri, Chris Kattan, Rachel Dratch, Bobby Moynihan, but I don't see much similarity between Adam and Pete.
posted by rhizome at 8:16 PM on April 23, 2018

50 First Dates has that suddenly dark, terrifying moment when Drew Barrymore realizes what's happened to her, what she's lost, and it's astounding. I really, really like the film, and the performances, but can you imagine the same film made from Barrymore's character's point of view, but as a psychological horror film? Every day is the same, with no memory of anything, but every day this utter stranger knows more and more about you, until finally you're waking up to video tapes marked "watch this" that show you, yourself, telling yourself about things you have no memory of because to you, they happened after today, and you have no way of ever experiencing tomorrow. But there you are, in a video, experiencing things with this utter stranger who is waiting outside your door, with your child you have no memory of. Hell, what of the nine months of horror waking up every morning pregnant with no memory of it? To you, you wake up suddenly nine months pregnant. That would be terrifying beyond comprehension.

As much as I love 50 First Dates, I think a reboot is in order.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:05 AM on April 24, 2018

"The whole point of a Netflix-exclusive movie is you aren’t supposed to think too hard about it; you don’t even have to really watch it while you’re watching it.”

Don't vibe with this at all. Netflix is just a place where I see movies. I'm not going to drag my ass into a theatre to see a movie, I'm not going to buy some disc to stick in a machine, I'm not going to "rent" a movie from amazon or whatever.
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:13 PM on April 24, 2018

I really, really like the film, and the performances, but can you imagine the same film made from Barrymore's character's point of view, but as a psychological horror film? Every day is the same, with no memory of anything,

It's essentially Memento, but also a kind of contemporary social/political commentary on the #metoo movement. Terrifying beyond comprehension indeed! *shudders*
posted by Fizz at 12:13 PM on April 24, 2018

I really like 50 First Dates and it is a movie that somehow works despite Sandler, and the plot being exactly what Ghidorah said. Indeed, Sandler seems to be at his most bearable when paired with Drew, though I never saw their third movie together so I don't know how that one went compared to 50 First and The Wedding Singer.

There used to be a podcast called Popcorn Dialogues that covered this movie, among other ones. They made the really good point that a lot of Sandleresque stuff is shoved into the plot, like the ugly lady they work with, Rob Schneider, etc.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:00 PM on April 24, 2018

GoblinHoney: "Netflix is just a place where I see movies. I'm not going to drag my ass into a theatre to see a movie, I'm not going to buy some disc to stick in a machine, I'm not going to "rent" a movie from amazon or whatever."

How is Amazon any different from Netflix?
posted by Chrysostom at 6:42 PM on April 24, 2018

I've definitely always had the sense that Sandler had the ability to do more nuanced work, but loved the easy money AND the dumb jokes just as much or more.

I went to check out his full filmography, and there are definitely films that I think work (The Wedding Singer) among his comedy credits, but then you hit stuff like Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish where he's obviously shooting for better. I never got around to seeing Reign Over Me, but he was clearly after something a bit more more rewarding than, say, The Hot Chick there.

All that said, though, the serious work is thin on the ground. I've heard good buzz about Meyerowitz, and I wouldn't be SURPRISED if it's great in it, but at this point it's not a question of having both careers. His life's work is shitty comedies, but with a few more serious films tossed in.

It would've been neat to see a more McConaughey-esque career from him, but we're clearly not gonna get that.

(And, sidenote to Ghidorah and jenfullmoon, I too love 50 First Dates, but there's definitely some troubling stuff going on there. At the same time, though, everyone seems to play it for serious even within the comedy. There are bits that are Sandler-broad (the trans man joke clanged badly even back then), but the scene where he returns to her and finds that she's painting him even though she doesn't consciously remember him is pretty intensely great.)
posted by uberchet at 1:24 PM on April 25, 2018

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“He is the patron saint of annoyance.” April 22, 2018 6:16 PM Subscribe

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