He Gets By with a Little Help from His Friends

It may seem like Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Kevin James and Chris Rock have all already been in a movie together, but they haven't.  The question is, however, would you even care if they were?  With the exception of Rock, I don't find any of these guys funny (anymore).  I used to be a huge Sandler fan; I caught his stand-up tours for both They're All Gonna Laugh at You! and What the Hell Happened to Me?  during the mid-90s and he absolutely brought the house down.  Unfortunately, the more successful he became, the more idiotic I found his whole shtick -- the only movie of his I've truly enjoyed was 1998's The Wedding Singer.  And that was probably just because, as they say on VH1, I love the 80s.

So when it was announced that Sandler's written a script about five friends who reunite thirty years after high school and that it will star the guys listed at the top of this post, I can't say I was very excited.  I mean, have you seen You Don't Mess with the Zohan?  It was horrid, and the same director (Dennis Dugan) is attached to this as-of-yet unnamed comedy.  Dugan also directed I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.  All of this is making me want to cry.

I know Locke has a soft spot for Happy Madison Productions, Sandler's company which will of course oversee this project, so perhaps he will tell us why we should have hope that their latest effort -- set to begin filming this summer -- might be worth checking out.  But until then, I will leave you with a younger, funnier Sandler singing about the comforts of his red hooded sweatshirt on Saturday Night Live.

Comments

[Jason]

I thoroughly enjoyed Don't Mess with the Zohan. I have to say, my wife and I laughed through the whole movie! It was hilarious! Sure, it's a stupid movie, but stupid movies can be fun! A little mindless entertainment once in a while never hurt anybody.

[Locke Peterseim]

Good gravy yes, Zohan was funny. I have to admit, I probably laughed more at it -- often involuntarily -- then most of the "better" comedies from last year. Sandler's Happy Madison films these days -- like Zohan and Chuck and Larry -- tend to aim low and land their punches perfectly. They know who their audience are and what will make them laugh and they rarely try to overreach that.

And honestly, this sounds like a dream cast for this sort of film. (Yep, I also laughed a lot at Joe Dirt.) Give in to the funny, e! Just hit your head against the wall over and over until you laugh. One of us! One of us!

[monica]

FUNNY MOVIE!