Retro Review: Little Nicky

 Little Nicky is the only Adam Sandler film I've ever seen. While it's true that I have seen Funny People and Punch-drunk Love (and, to a lesser degree, Airheads and Coneheads, part of the unfulfilled "Adam Sandler in Movies with the Word 'Head' Trilogy"), Little Nicky is the only Sandler vehicle that Cap'n ever sat through. I know, it's strange: somehow I missed Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, Eight Crazy Nights, Anger Management, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, or Grown Ups.

 Honestly, I was a little surprised that Happy Madison had anything to do with Judd Apatow's Funny People: Sandler's production company is almost always associated with movies that nobody I know ever sees - The Zookeeper, Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Grandma's Boy, and The Hot Chick*. Happy Madison also released Jack & Jill, a movie that recently nominated for twelve Golden Raspberry Awards, which is nearly a record and is odd, because the film is only eligible in ten categories.

 Jack & Jill is actually the reason I thought of Little Nicky, not because I'm going to watch the former (which, if this is in any way true, might not be a movie but instead a scam) , but it reminded me that I HAVE actually seen an "Adam Sandler Joint" and I kind of liked it.

 Little Nicky is, by no means, a good movie. I can remember so little of it after nearly twelve years that I'm surprised recalled the film at all. Basically it has something to do with Lucifer (Rodney Dangerfield), Satan (Harvey Keitel), and Satan's three kids: Cassius (Tiny Lister, Jr.), Adrian (Rhys Ifans), and Nicky (Sandler). Nicky has a speech impediment and the other brothers like to pick on him, but Satan wants him to take over Hell, or something. Then he decides not to, so Adrian and Cassius freeze the entrance to Hell and go to Earth to take over, and Nicky has to save him. That, and something about putting boobs on Kevin Nealon's head.

 There's a talking dog and Patricia Arquette and some flask that collects souls, but mostly what I remember is that Nicky is actually half-demon, half-angel because his mother is Reese Witherspoon (Reese Witherspoon), erm, Holly. She gives him some ultimate weapon of goodness or something, which turns out to be Ozzy Osbourne (you see what they did there? It gets better, because Adrian turns into a bat. I wonder what happens?).

 Little Nicky has lots of shenanigans and jokes about evil, but mostly lots of advertisements for Popeye's Chicken. Seriously. At one point, a demon tries a bucket and says "Popeye's Chicken is the shiznit!" Actually, see it for yourself:

 

  I had no idea that this was a trend in Happy Madison films - arbitrary and shameless product placement, but Popeye's Chicken is hard to miss in Little Nicky. As I haven't seen the film since I watched it for free at the theatre I used to work for, I can't remember why I liked it. Describing it in this review, I'm not sure I did like it, but I do know I spent the better part of the fall of 2000 doing a Little Nicky impersonation for no good reason. It was funny to me, I guess (the impersonation, not the movie).

 Maybe Little Nicky does suck, and I thought that it sucked so much that it stopped sucking and became awesome. It's the sort of thing that hipsters do all the time now: ironically appreciating everything bad. I don't think I was being ironic though: considering some of the shit I'd been watching that year (The In Crowd, Loser, Bless the Child, Blair Witch 2, Hollow Man), it could be that Little Nicky was a breath of fresh air. That the film was vaguely watchable compared to the likes of Lost Souls is enough to push it into "I liked it" territory.

 Would I still like it? Um... well... let's all say it's one of life's unanswered questions. Because that's not going to happen. Happy Madison and I have reached a cease-fire: I don't watch their shitty movies, and accordingly don't report to you how horrible they are. That's the job of literally every other masochistic reviewer out there. I'm plenty busy watching Saw IV, V, and VI in one weekend, but that is another story...



* Strange Wilderness is, I have been reminded by IMDB, a Happy Madison film, but is a Steve Zahn vehicle and does not, to my recollection, feature Adam Sandler in any capacity. And I never finished Joe Dirt.

Stupid Eyes

 I don't have much to say, because it's really hard to look at any one thing for long periods of time. The short story is that Cap'n Howdy's eyesight has improved, to the point that my glasses are too strong. I guess that would be a good thing, except that until my new prescription comes in, I've been advised to use the computer without them. They're better than the glasses can handle, but they aren't THAT good, so I get a wicked headache from staring at the screen, and I just worked eight hours sitting in front of a computer.

 As you can imagine, since I don't like sitting right in front of the TV screen, watching movies is very difficult. I'm about 20 minutes away from finishing More Brains: A Return to the Living Dead, but I just can't do it tonight. I'll get that review up Friday or Saturday, when my eyes don't hurt so much. I don't even know why I agreed to go see something (anything) tomorrow night when I know good and well I won't be able to see it. Thankfully, Professor Murder has his heart set on Jack and Jill, which violates my "No Adam Sandler Movies" rule (of which Little Nicky and Punch-Drunk Love are the only exceptions after 1993*). Then again, if I can't see it, it didn't happen, and I have no intention of paying for it. I'd rather not be able to see The Thing if that's an option.

 So I can't watch movies, I can't write for very long, and I have trouble staring at the computer screen. You can see how this isn't conducive to proper Blogorium decorum. Hence I will leave you with the following: Francis Ford Coppola's Dementia 13, in its entirety.



 Please accept this as my apology for not being able to create a fictional dialogue between The Dude and CLU this week.



* I would not necessarily consider Airheads to be an "Adam Sandler" movie, but for you sticklers out there, I put in that qualifier.

Four Reasons to Watch Funny People

I've tried writing a review for Funny People that covered the sprawling narrative, the various subplots, minor character flourishes, and incidental footage that makes up the world of George Simmons (Adam Sandler) and Ira Wright (Seth Rogen). None of it made any sense or read as an interesting review. So I'll keep it short. Four short reasons to consider watching Funny People, a very different kind of movie from Judd Apatow.


1. It's not really a comedy - Funny People is about comedians, but not necessarily about comedy. It's not even about comedy in the same way The King of Comedy is about comedy. Judd Apatow uses the backdrop of comedy writers and stand up comedy, mixed with autobiographical material involving his early days with Sandler, and made a film about human beings with flaws. Serious, marriage destroying, career sabotaging flaws that they use whenever the opportunity arises. Not just George Simmons, who learns nothing from a life-threatening health scare. Ira Wright knowingly cuts his roommate Leo (Jonah Hill) out of a co-writing gig for Simmons out of jealousy, and Leo petulantly strikes back by joining Mark (Jason Schwartman)'s horrible sitcom Yo Teach! for a quick buck. Ira gets mad at Daisy (Aubrey Plaza) for sleeping with Mark when he had every opportunity to woo her. Simmons' old flame Laura (Leslie Mann) impetuously decides to help George ruin her marriage to the not-that-bad Clarke (Eric Bana), only to blame Ira when things get inconvenient.

That's just part of the plot, but despite the horribly shitty things these funny people do to each other, you can't help but keep watching. They aren't despicable, even if they behave that way sometimes. They're just trying to be happy in selfish ways. There are laughs, but the heart of Funny People is in the way these very human flaws come and go over two-and-a-half hours.


2. If you thought Adam Sandler was great in Punchdrunk Love, this is the follow-up you've been waiting for - While George Simmons is in many ways a mirror for Adam Sandler's career, one can see hints of Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Robin Williams in his character. Sandler has the hardest task of keeping George distant from everybody, to the point of alienating Ira almost completely, but does it without ever losing your sympathy. Sandler doesn't necessarily push himself to emotional extremes in the ways obvious in Punchdrunk Love, but he does carry quite a bit of the acting, especially when George's story overtakes Ira's in the second half of the film.

As a nice contrast, we get glimpses of the films George Simmons made - movies he feels no pride for - that do seem like the Adam Sandler on autopilot available in most Happy Madison movies. The contrast shouldn't be lost on attentive viewers, and if you've been waiting for a glimpse of the Adam Sandler that appeared for Paul Thomas Anderson, George Simmons is your man.


3. The Stand-Up is actually very good - bringing in Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn in to help write material for the stars was a great idea, but Apatow and company road tested much of the live material months before principal photography began. The stand-up in Funny People actually sounds like stand-up material, and not just a facsimile of comedy writing thrown up in front of a brick wall. Extra kudos go to Aziz Ansari, who plays Raaaaaaaandy!, the inexplicably popular comedian of the Myspace generation. Despite an act that involves very little comedy, Ansari manages to sneak away with every scene he's in. Sandler, Rogen, Hill, and Aubrey Plaza also register despite the fact half of them are new to stand-up and the other half haven't done it in decades.


4. The incidental material is worth the price of admission - Not only is the footage from George Simmons' Re-do and Merman pathetically silly, but Mark Taylor Jackson's retched Yo Teach!, the subject of much derision in the film, gets its time in the limelight. Funny People manages to incorporate actual footage of young Adam Sandler and Leslie Mann into the narrative, which is admittedly bizarre but adds another layer of versimilitude.

But honestly, there are tons of tiny moments that make Funny People worth seeing. The RZA as Ira's co-worker, Chuck, a deli counter employee who loves the health benefits. The German(?) doctor, seen as the butt of many jokes from George and Ira in the trailer, getting his own wisecracks in during a second visit. The clip from Merman. Yo Teach! Or, possibly my favorite moment in the film, one that occurs during a "glad you're well party" for George, when Eminem utters the following sentence:

"If I don't watch my back, then I might get popped by Ray Romano."

Which is preceded by a comparably funny moment when Ray Romano says "Hello Marshall" while being cursed out by Eminem. This is after Sarah Silverman, Norm MacDonald, and Dave Attell have their moment to get a crack in on George.

But seriously, I hope this gives you some idea of what to actually expect from Funny People. It's not some uproarious gross-out comedy, as The 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up were. It's not even Forgetting Sarah Marshall or Pineapple Express or I Love You Man territory. It is absolutely not a bromantic comedy. Funny People is a serio-comic film about people who don't behave normally, so they turn to comedy. Most of them are pretty good at it, even if they're still lousy friends and lovers. And it tends to wander in different directions, so if you don't want to follow Ira's story, then follow George's, or vice versa. There's a lot of meat on Funny People's bone, and I think many of you will find something worth chewing on.