Fun for the Sandler in all of us
There's a certain joy that can only be truly understood by a male between the ages of thirteen and twenty-five. It's the joy of belching loudly at the dinner table,hawking spit off a bridge and watching it plummet into the water, and making endless jokes about your own feces.
That joy is best expressed by Adam Sandler's newest film "Little Nicky." Its raunchy, goofy, and downright hilarious, but only if you have the stomach and the maturity level to handle it.
While most Sandler films are presented in this adolescent ilk, this one is more so, relying on more gross-out jokes than his previous films. It's not that I'm knocking the approach (in fact, I was laughing louder than most people in the audience), it's just that once again, it takes a certain type of individual to enjoy this style of humour.
This could be called Adam Sandler's first "big budget" film, as it relies on special effects and elaborate sets more than his previous ones. Sometimes this approach is effective, such as the superb sets of hell, which are really spooky. However, most of the time it is overdone, substituting style for substance. The great things about films like "Happy Gilmore," "Billy Madison," and "The Waterboy" was that the jokes were from the characters and situations, and not from the spectacle on screen. One joke I found particularly unfunny was the addition of breast to the Gatekeeper's (Kevin Nealon) head. Sure you can do it with special effects, but why?
Fortunately, Sandler himself is in top-gear, giving a good performance and making up for all the other weak spots of the film. With his bad hair cut and odd speaking voice, Sandler still somehow creates a completely sympathetic and funny character. Personally, I think Adam Sandler's got some acting talent, but only when he's playing a comedic (please forgive his feigned attempt at seriousness in "Big Daddy").
Sandler has also surrounded himself with an endless list of Saturday Night Live alumni and other famous folks in cameo roles. Dana Carvey, Reese Witherspoon, Jon Lovitz, Henry Winkler, Rodney Dangerfield, Rob Schneider, Clint Howard, Michael McKean, Quentin Tarantino and even Ozzy Ozbourne make appearances. Half the fun of this movie is seeing who turns up next. One particular cameo particularly humoured my movie Without giving too much away, let's just say it's best going into the movie with some knowledge of Sandler's previous films.
On the same note, fans of Sandler's previous films, or those in the Sandler demographic group will best enjoy this film; others simply won't. It's not his best movie, but then again, it isn't his worse (I leave that distinction to "The Wedding Singer," which I found remarkably bland). So, if you enjoy burping loudly and spitting off of bridges as much as I do, I'm sure "Little Nicky" is just for you.
That joy is best expressed by Adam Sandler's newest film "Little Nicky." Its raunchy, goofy, and downright hilarious, but only if you have the stomach and the maturity level to handle it.
While most Sandler films are presented in this adolescent ilk, this one is more so, relying on more gross-out jokes than his previous films. It's not that I'm knocking the approach (in fact, I was laughing louder than most people in the audience), it's just that once again, it takes a certain type of individual to enjoy this style of humour.
This could be called Adam Sandler's first "big budget" film, as it relies on special effects and elaborate sets more than his previous ones. Sometimes this approach is effective, such as the superb sets of hell, which are really spooky. However, most of the time it is overdone, substituting style for substance. The great things about films like "Happy Gilmore," "Billy Madison," and "The Waterboy" was that the jokes were from the characters and situations, and not from the spectacle on screen. One joke I found particularly unfunny was the addition of breast to the Gatekeeper's (Kevin Nealon) head. Sure you can do it with special effects, but why?
Fortunately, Sandler himself is in top-gear, giving a good performance and making up for all the other weak spots of the film. With his bad hair cut and odd speaking voice, Sandler still somehow creates a completely sympathetic and funny character. Personally, I think Adam Sandler's got some acting talent, but only when he's playing a comedic (please forgive his feigned attempt at seriousness in "Big Daddy").
Sandler has also surrounded himself with an endless list of Saturday Night Live alumni and other famous folks in cameo roles. Dana Carvey, Reese Witherspoon, Jon Lovitz, Henry Winkler, Rodney Dangerfield, Rob Schneider, Clint Howard, Michael McKean, Quentin Tarantino and even Ozzy Ozbourne make appearances. Half the fun of this movie is seeing who turns up next. One particular cameo particularly humoured my movie Without giving too much away, let's just say it's best going into the movie with some knowledge of Sandler's previous films.
On the same note, fans of Sandler's previous films, or those in the Sandler demographic group will best enjoy this film; others simply won't. It's not his best movie, but then again, it isn't his worse (I leave that distinction to "The Wedding Singer," which I found remarkably bland). So, if you enjoy burping loudly and spitting off of bridges as much as I do, I'm sure "Little Nicky" is just for you.
- Tom Schulz
- Dec 5, 2000