If you asked today’s generation who Adam Sandler is, the answer may not be synonymous with success. What they might not know, is in the early-to-mid 90’s Sandler was at his arguable critical peak, selling millions of comedy albums, stealing scenes on Saturday Night Live and getting his start in film with movies like Billy Madison.
While there were flickers of hope that he could become a legitimate leading man in Hollywood, Sandler settled for anything that stuffed his wallet, no matter how generic or formulaic, and that’s how he’s unfortunately remembered today.
For those aren’t acquainted with Sandler’s five-year SNL run, it was chock-full of entertainment. You put Sandler and a guitar in front an audience at Studio 8H, there was guaranteed laughter. He’d bring his considerable charm to whatever sketch he took part of. Who could forget Opera Man? Cajun Man? Or the dark Zagat’s Restaurant sketch? He stole scenes and quickly became a popular figure among a loaded cast.
In 1993, Sandler released his first comedy album They’re All Going to Laugh at You!” which was certified double platinum and nominated for a Grammy Award. He was a success in multiple mediums.
In 1995, after getting fired from SNL, he transitioned into film. In a two-year span, Sandler co-wrote and starred in Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, two of his most popular films to this day. While there were duds along the way (Bulletproof), he had positive momentum, starring in The Wedding Singer, which represented both a hit critically and at the box office. He re-teamed with directors Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer) and Dennis Dugan (Happy Girlmore) for The Waterboy and Big Daddy respectively. Both films killed in the box office, but it was the start of a comfortability and sameness that started Sandler’s decline.
In 1999, Sandler opened Happy Madison Productions and starting producing his own films. With this new venture, Sandler and his team made some pretty atrocious movies with the same usual frequent collaborators. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, The Master of Disguise and The Hot Chick, were all among the first slate of movies that Sandler’s company put out. Most of his early productions made money, but were critically panned.
Sandler, meanwhile, had just scored his first Golden Globe nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love. Critics were impressed with Sandler’s acting ability. Roger Ebert went as far to say “Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor. Watching this film, you can imagine him in Dennis Hopper roles. He has darkness, obsession and power. He can’t go on making those moronic comedies forever, can he?”
Well, that’s exactly what Sandler did.
The shitty movies stacked up on top of each other — 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard and Click. Those movies were arguably among the best Sandler’s production company ever produced, yet they were still mediocre. There was a talented actor stuffed inside all of those humourless productions, and every now and again Sandler would show off what could have been, continuing to show his dramatic acting chops with roles in James L. Brooks’ Spanglish and Mike Binder’s 9/11 dramedy Reign Over Me. He proved not only was he funny, but he had a touch for the dramatic.
As more bad movies that came out, more people seemed to watch them. Movies Sandler produced (and starred in) always seemed to perform well at the box office, despite heinous reviews. In a fitting self-parody, Sandler took another dramatic turn with Judd Apatow’s Funny People. The movie description reads like a Sandler biography: “George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is a middle-aged former stand-up comedian turned movie star. Despite his millions, he is sad and lonely and most of his recent film work is low-brow and dumb.”
Funny People examines loneliness, sickness and a reclamation of one’s career. While not a commercial success like many of Sandler’s previous starring roles, he really hit a home run with his performance in that movie. It was nuanced, introspective and touching. Unfortunately, what followed represents the lowest of the lows for Sandler.
Sandler went for the lower common denominator with the release of Grown Ups. The film, which spawned a sequel, was basically Sandler and his friends — Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and more — cracking immature jokes seemingly written by teenagers who just discovered that farts were funny. The film was chock-full of cameos from famous friends and had no creative dignity. It was a clusterfuck of who cares. This started a phase of Sandler movies in which creatively, it seemed he couldn’t hit rock bottom any further — yet he continually did.
In Jack and Jill, he played both roles of fraternal twins and dragged down Al Pacino and Katie Holmes to the depths of creative hell with him. The trailer seemed like one of the mock parody films featured in Funny People.
It became the first movie to ever win every single award at The Golden Raspberry Awards. He followed up that masterpiece with That’s My Boy, which somehow made Andy Samberg seem unfunny, all while driving a plot with a hint of incest. Sandler and friends took vacation number two in Grown Ups 2, and then he took another vacation in Blended, which he fully admitted was filmed in Africa for that reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNQphA2IQL8
Sandler has long given up on making good movies. It’s hard to go from universally loved to universally panned (see Dane Cook), but Sandler has committed critical suicide by simply not caring about the quality of his films. The creative process of filmmaking has become just another excuse to see some of his buddies and shoot in an exotic location.
It’s a damn shame because Sandler was a fine comedic mind and a talented actor when he wanted to be. Instead, he’s broiled in controversy, such as having Native American actors walk off the set of his latest film, The Ridiculous Six, because of claims of satire gone too far, with reports of characters named Beaver Breath. It’s the exact juvenile laziness that Sandler’s known for these days. I have no doubt in my mind that not only will The Ridiculous Six be joyless and unfunny, but that it will offend the masses for a totally justifiable reason.
Looking through Adam Sandler’s best career moments on YouTube, or watching his best performances on SNL, it’s hard to believe he’s even the same guy. In a career filled with such promise, the passion and genuine humor have been vaporized from our minds. Sandler used to be one of the funniest and talented people on the planet, now he’s settled on being the punchline.
