Manic Expression

Rating: THE BEST ADAM SANDLER MOVIE IN YEARS! (TAKE THAT HOWEVER YOU WANT IT)

Before we get into it, let's clarify something. Adam Sandler doesn't make good movies. He's not in good movies. When we were young, we may have had fun with them, but they are not good. Coneheads (RT: 36%, IMDB 5.1), Airheads (RT: 22%, IMDB: 5.8), Mixed Nuts (RT: 7%, IMDB: 5.0, MC: 14)

But Jerk, those movies were when he played bit parts. That was before he was a star.

Oh yeah? Billy Madison (RT 45%, IMDB: 6.3, MC: 16), Happy Gilmore (RT: 59%, IMDB: 6.9, MC: 31), The Wedding Singer, one of his best, (RT: 69%, IMDB: 6.8, MC: 59)...do I need to go on? It doesn't get any better from there. So everyone out there who says, "What happened to Adam Sandler? Why isn't he funny anymore?" The problem isn't with him...

...it's with you.

(He may have a point there.)

What are you talking about?!? You can't blame us for how shitty this movie is! No, I can't. Here's the thing. You grew up. You weren't a douchbag like Peter Pan (read the story again, he's a fucking douchbag!), you got older, matured, and wanted to see more elaborate comedy. This movie is exactlylike his old stuff, just more vulgar.

If you were fourteen again, this shit would kill. You'd be falling out of your seat laughing (at least the boys will. the awkward dates would probably be getting mad). The plot hits the exact same beats, the jokes have the same delivery, and Adam Sandler plays someone CAAARAAAAZYYYYY!

(We should all be grateful he switched the nonsense lingo to beer and tits.)

Sandler is over the top, outrageous, and uncouth. In other words, everything you expect him to be. What I didn't expect, however, was that he's one of the only 'real', consistent character in the whole movie. Andy Samberg is another, though he's basically the straight man for most of the film. Everyone else will turn on a dime if it means making a joke. Apparently, no one else has a heart besides Sandler. Then again, the story goes after the easy emotions. It doesn't try to be complicated. It's trying to make you laugh, and like the class clown in high school, it only knows how to do it a certain way.

(Am I funny yet?!? Please tell me I'm funny!)

Final Thoughts: Did I laugh? A couple of times. Jokes about fucking old ladies tend to get to me. For the most part, I was more mildly amused. I wasn't bored. I didn't feel like I was stupid. Sandler and Samberg were interesting to watch at points, but Sandler has made this movie quite a few times before.

Introduce characters, problem 1, go to solve problem 1, create problem 2, try to forget about problem 1. The crazy character and the straight man reconcile. Straight man finds out about problem 1, it breaks things apart. Crazy character tries to make things right. Finds problem 3 at the end of act 2. Act 3 uses problem 3 to solve problem 2, which leads to the solution to problem 1.

There you go. Every Adam Sandler movie ever made. Also every romantic comedy ever made. Also the structure to every bad movie ever made. There you go. It's not a good movie, unless you're a teenager and are sneaking in to see it after your parents forbid you from watching it. Then it will be amazing until you're in your twenties.