Do you remember when Adam Sandler was the funniest guy in movies? Back in the day, you'd go to school on Monday and chat with your friends about what he did on Saturday Night Live that week, and eventually that led into quoting the funniest bits from his early movies like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. And while those movies are still very funny, the movies that he's made in the last 6-7 years haven't been. Why is that? Is that because we as a culture have outgrown his brand of gibberish? Are the times changing, resulting in a sway away from Sandler's brand of comedy?
This has happened one or twice before in the history of the movies? One only need recall the box office success of late 1950s and early 1960s comedy film-maker Jerry Lewis, who in the early 60s was the highest-paid actor/comedian working with any major Hollywood studio. And then that went away. Whereas Jerry Lewis had been a big box office draw in the age of innocence, the pre-Kennedy assassination era, that disappeared following the death of President John F. Kennedy and America's entrance into Vietnam. Whereas just a couple years prior, Lewis had been funny, to the Vietnam-war era flower children he suddenly became unfunny and even worse, un-hip.
Is that was has happened to Adam Sandler? Have the times changes so radically that his brand of comedy is no longer funny to us? Certainly, comparing Adam Sandler to Jerry Lewis, in its own, funny way would be like comparing apples to oranges, but if the times have, in fact, truly changed, what has changed about them so much that Sandler is no longer funny to us?
Certainly, the 2010's are as turbulent as the 1960s in terms of politics and war, but culturally, not. And with Sandler latest film Pixels having recently crashed on home video DVD and Blu-Ray, where will he go next or what will he do? Sandler, has dared dramatic turns in recent years which have resulted in indifference from critics and hot and cold feelings via his fan base. Anyone remember Punch Drunk Love or Spanglish? Even Reign on Me was a big dramatic turn for him. All of these are great films, and Sandler delivers impressive performances in all of these films, but you have to ask yourself, exactly why he did these roles in the first place? Did he have a desire to stretch his acting wings or was it a case of the directors of those movies thinking that they could cast him in their lead roles in the hopes that their films/stories might be seen by Sandler's mixed, and wide audience?
And what of the last 10 films that Sandler has churned out? They seem to be getting worse and worse with every passing release, as if, he's almost doing it on purpose! What follows is our list of the worst Adam Sandler movies ever made.
In no particular order:
Jack & Jill (2011)
Perhaps, the all-time peak of awfulness as far as an Adam Sandler movie goes! Jack & Jill, a movie in which Adam Sandler plays two-roles, a man and a female part, was the first movie in the history of the Razzies awards to win all it was nominated for. At the very least, while Jack & Jill is completely unwatchable, one can't help but to draw a comparison to the film and something that comedian Jerry Lewis was branching into in the mid 1960's, where he too, was playing multiple characters as well as women in his movies. Why did it work so well for him, but it doesn't work here for Sandler on any level?
You Don't Mess With the Zohan (2008)
A hot mess of a movie, that proves that using ethic personalities for the sake of comedy isn't funny! While it may have been cute in the mid 80's, it is no longer amusing here which is why You Don't Mess With the Zohan is more or less forgotten as a movie when you start a conversation with anyone about Adam Sandler because many didn't bother to see it, and those that did, wish that they hadn't ever seen it in the first place. Not funny.
Just Go With It (2011)
Perhaps, even remembered less than You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Sandler shot this mess in Hawaii. Did anyone actually see this one? A reboot of the classic film Cactus Flower, from 1969, that was originally scripted by movie comedy God, I.A.L. Diamond, Just Go With It featured Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston together in Hawaii.
Blended (2014)
Trying to milk the formula of prior success, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore team up once again for Blended, yet another romantic ultra comedy. Fans and critics of Sandler felt that with Blended that the actor/comic was on auto-pilot and that he the film was just another cash generator. The film doesn't offer anything new to fans of Sandler or general movie-going audiences which is why its considered as one of his worst movies to date.
Click (2005)
From director Frank Coraci, someone Sandler works often with, Click is Sandler's sappy take on the '80s classic John Ritter comedy Stay-Tuned, which sees both actors sucked into TV land and off on their own personal odyssey. Whereas Stay-Tuned is clever, dark, and twisted, Click is yet another foray for Sandler to be the neglecting father who must get back on track. Ultimately, Click marks a turn in the Sandler canon, as from each on out the films he has appeared in have gotten worse and worse post Click. Although Christopher Walken, who is always good, has a cameo in the film which makes it almost worth watching solely for that reason alone.