Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

June 19, 2012

Why do people love this Opie Taylor wannabe?

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Samuel Hoelker: I'll give Adam Sandler credit for not being the boring family-man character that has plagued his terrible, terrible films in recent years. It seems like this is pretty calculated, though. His schtick is getting old? Why not try something new and "shocking?" And it could have worked too, if, y'know, like Brett said, the shock wasn't about statutory rape. I've not seen it, but I don't think I'll be far off if I guess that most jokes will be based off of various words for genitalia. It's lazy, manufactured, cheap, and lame, and I think audiences could really tell that from the trailer. This is another instance where 2012 audiences are actually being smart.

Edwin Davies: Sandler's been one of the most cynical figures in Hollywood for years now, taking home huge paychecks for terrible, lowest common denominator crap because he knew that he had a big enough audience, who had a decent amount of goodwill towards him, that they could guarantee that most of them would make money back. Last year, though, with the double whammy of Just Go With It and Jack and Jill, maybe people finally cottoned on to his cynicism. The R-rating didn't help since it limited the film's potential compared to his usual fare - though Sandler's been around for so long that a sizable chunk of his audience must be old enough to get in to see the film anyway - but even so, I would have expected more than this from a Sandler release. Maybe Grown Ups 2 (which I can't believe is a real thing and really wish wasn't) will reverse the trend, but I think that his last two films suggest that people are getting tired of what Sandler is peddling.




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David Mumpower: There is a throwaway line from the much maligned Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip that I believe is applicable here. "You know, Chevy Chase woke up one day and he just wasn't funny any more." There is a lot of truth in that. I do not consider Sandler to be on his last legs, but I absolutely agree with the comments about Just Go with It and (particularly) Jack and Jill. We as a group maintain that the overall quality of a movie directly impacts the opening weekend of its sequel. This is the converse. After the abomination that was Jack and Jill, consumers were rightfully skittish about another Sandler movie.

I would also add another point along these lines. Just Go with It has been running constantly on the pay channels in recent months. Jack and Jill debuted on Starz last week. The ready availability of these titles works against the debut of That's My Boy, which is also by all accounts a terrible movie. Nobody is impervious to the negative stigma created by three crap movies in 16 months. Sandler needs to go away for a while, but we know that he won't be doing this. Instead, we'll get the Grown Ups sequel nobody is asking for. If I'm Sandler's agent, I'm telling him that this is the time when he needs to do another Punch-Drunk Love/Reign Over Me/Spanglish. People need to see some effort.

Kim Hollis: I actually really like Adam Sandler, but you couldn't pay me to go see any of his recent releases, from Grown Ups to Just Go With It to Jack and Jill and now this movie. He comes off as a genuinely decent human being, and I really want him to get past this...whatever it is. He definitely needs to challenge himself, because right now he's looking at a career trajectory that mirrors what has been happening to Eddie Murphy. Sandler really ought to be aiming for something closer to Bill Murray if he wants to model himself after another former SNL'er.


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