Tag: adam sandler

Uncut Tension (Uncut Gems, 2019)

Uncut_Gems_PosterAdam Sandler plays Howard, a man with a once thriving business as a jeweler whose gambling addiction has brought his life to a stressful ruin.  When he acquires a gem worth millions, that he plans to auction off, life spirals even farther out of control as his debtors close in.

The Safdie Brothers have crafted a film that is unrelenting in its desperation. It feels almost like a constant build up that never gives any release during its run time.  It never paints Howard as anything but a tragic fool, a slave to his greed and gambling addictions.

Sandler gives what is easily his strongest and most intense performance of all time.  Did you forget that Sandler can act? The Safdie Brothers did not and Sandler’s performance is one of the best performances of last year. The man was cheated by the Oscars.

Uncut Gems is not an easy watch, but it is rewarding and is a film worth checking out.

 

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Obligatory Bare Naked Ladies One Week Song Reference (The Week Of, 2018)

Week_of_PosterKenny Lustig is a lower middle class Jewish dad whose daughter is engaged to the son of rich surgeon (and black) Kirby Cordice. The week before the wedding, Kenny is trying to set everything up to go perfectly.  Shockingly in a story like this…that is not happening.

There is certainly a potentially entertaining movie in the story.  But the weight of the cliches and the casting brings to much drag. Kenny has big ideas, but is trying to pull them off on a budget and hide just how tight money is.  He is constantly fighting with his wife, his family is overbearing but he and his daughter have a special bond. Is the massive fighting with his wife (played by Rachel Dratch) something that needs resolution? I don’t know…maybe? It is almost more like “This is an Adam Sandler movie, he needs another person to have shouting matches with”.

Rock’s Cordice has no apparent relationship to his ex-wife or his kids. He hates her new man, and just threw money at the kids. But the movie never does a good job of showing this relationship. But at the end, we are supposed to accept how much he has grown.  But from where???

We don’t really get much of a sense of any of the relationships.  A lot of the running gags feel like the film was originally envisioned as a writer pitch to Wes Anderson.  The quirky friend who offers to sleep with guys for her best friend’s sake, another friend who throws herself at the weird neighbor kid who has been obsessed Sandler’s daughter for years…they are all “quirky”…but here it just feels like a weird clash.

And the biggest problem is the casting.  Sandler and Rock are just not the right guys for these roles. They do not bring any real personality or life to their characters.  Kirby and Kenny are ill defined characters, relying on cliches…and neither actor does anything to make these characters feel like they are more than those cliches.

Heck, they don’t even really make use of the cliches that might give them some solid awkward comedy.  The only gag we really get from the Black and Jewish thing is one that…well, makes Kenny look pretty bad.  He sees two black guys walking by the house and invites the (rather confused) two in because he assumes they are members of Kirby’s family.

Nothing really seems able to save The Week Of from drowning in it’s own lack of creativity.

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Artifacting (Pixels, 2015)

pixels_centipedePixels is a mash of Ghostbusters and Adam Sandler’s Nostalgia machine with a lot of likeable actors supporting Sandler and James based on a clever 2:34 minute short film by Patrick Jean from 2010.

The short explanation of the film is that in 1982 the U.S. government sent out a tie capsule into space, aliens with VCR technology thought we were declaring war and attack us with video games from 1982 (or earlier).  The world’s best hope is not our military or scientists… it is washed up guys who were super good at video games in 1982.

The idea certainly could have been a lot of fun.  But the film was mashed through a standard Sandler Comedy Filter.  The jokes depend on Sandler’s 80’s nostalgia (which translates scattershot jokes based on “har, har-80’s!” with no regard to accuracy).  The whole opening sequence is set in 1982 where we meet every major character except Michelle Monaghan’s Violet as children.  The jokes reference 80’s celebrities whose careers had not taken off in 1982.  We learn Adam Sandler’s Brenner is a prodigy at video games, Kevin Jame’s Cooper is only good at the claw game, Ludlow (Josh Gad) has no friends and Peter Dinklage is a gaming champion.  Brenner almost wins the championship, but in the end loses to Eddie.

Apparently, this destroys Brenner, and when the film picks up he is a entertainment system installer, which is how he meets skilled scientist and 2nd Lt. Violet, who is getting a divorce.  After a failed attempt to kiss Violet, the two spend the movie sparring in that generic “these people hate each other but are really falling in love” fashion.

The movie is very generic in every fashion.  The script has no life, and relies on cheap stereotypes (in an Adam Sandler film?!).  Gad’s Ludlow is a creepy conspiracy theory nut who admits to having kidnapped people.  He is also obsessed with Lady Lisa, the heroine of Dojo Quest.  Dinklage’s Eddie is a prisoner who wants a threesome with Martha Stewart and Serena Williams as a condition of helping save the world.

pixels-teamThe effects are good (which is not surprising).  The cast is promising (Dinklage has the best performance) yet ultimately everyone feels like they are just playing expected roles.  Monaghan is the love interest and mom, Brian Cox is Angry Old Man and Josh Gad yells then trails off quietly in his delivery…  Adam Sandler is his usual failed schlep and Kevin James channels his Bumbling Man Character through the president.

The film makes “odd” choices…one example is Lady Lisa.  All the alien video game warriors are pixelated.  Every single one.  Except Lisa.  And the only reason I can gather is that she is supposed to be a hot woman.  So, who cares, right?  Sexy trumps your established rules.

This film is supposed to be a comedy.  I did not laugh once.  Not even a chuckle.  I did smile a couple times where the film moved up in level to mildly amusing.  But the film is genuinely awful.

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