Adam Sandler - Funny guy, really?
 

Reading about the movie Grown Ups, I read the following :

"Adam Sandler is always on the top of the race when it comes to comedy genre"

And I thought, is he really? I can't remember ever thinking Adam Sandler was particularly funny. I find the characters he plays to generally be unfunny, often pathetic and lacking in charm. His hesitant style is grating. His unlikeability sort of suited him in the 2009 movie Funny People where he co-starred the much funnier Seth Rogen as Adam's character was kind of a douche. But for general purpose comedy? Bleh.

So, personally, I feel even Rob Schneider is much funnier. What do you think?

I personally compare him to Mike Meyers. Funny guy who's put out nothing but garbage for the last decade. I think The Waterboy, as crude a film as it is, is Sandler's best character. His comedy films generally star the same character over and over again, but with The Waterboy he really played someone unique and it worked.

Grown Ups was awful. I felt a little embarrassed for our country.

I think Adam Sandler was fairly consistently hilarious in the 90s. Though I disagree with Conan about The Waterboy, I think that and Bulletproof were the weakest movies he put out in that decade. But since the 90s? Yeah, he's pretty much sucked except for Punch Drunk Love, which wasn't a comedy. When that movie came out I really hoped it was going to be the starting point of a new phase in his career where he'd pull a Bill Murray and become a worthwhile actor in quirky movies. Unfortunately, he chose to go down the path of making really lame sappy comedies instead.

I know it's against popular opinion, but I hated Punch Drunk Love. Despite having some credibility, I felt Sandler's character was, in addition to being disturbed, highly annoying to watch.

I caught a few glimpzes of Little Nicky on the telly some weeks ago. I'm surprised his career survived that crap. It reminded me of this little tip from Tropic Thunder :

Not funny at all. It just isn't my type of humour. Same goes for Rob Schneider.

Rob Schneider is funny in small doses that's why his cameos in almost every Adam Sandler movie is pretty hilarious but give him a vehicle to helm on his own and it's just not the same. The best part about his Duece Bigelow movie was having Eddie Griffith there to assist him.

I disagree that he's funnier than Adam Sandler.

Grown Ups is one of those movies where you put too many funny people in one movie and it ends up being just plain horrible.

EH, he does what he does. I used to love Sandler as a kid, and I think that should be noted that his comedy does have that appeal. However, I grow older, and I grow tired of 'screwball' in general, let alone Sandler's increasingly commercial, increasingly half assed attempts.

Then again I think he's only 8 million times more talented than Will Ferrell.

I've enjoyed a few Sandler movies. Wedding Singer was a decent laugh. I think hes far better at standup as he seems to better with skits then movies. He suffers from being the same person in every movie. No matter how annoying you make your voice sound Adam its the same schtick.

This is clearly a case of the bad out-weighing the good. I think in general i yearn for the days of the solid Murray/Pryor/Chase movies where people truly were funny.

I find it a little odd that the only pure Hollywood comedies of late that have any merit are Judd Apatow productions.

Eh, he's generally funny in the "incredibly stupid but good for turning your mind off" kind of way. I don't go seeking out his movies, but if I'm watching television and there's nothing else on I don't mind watching him.

Dude will Farrell is ridiculously funnier than sandler .

Heh. I love his first two albums!

Will Ferrel's done some awful stuff, but I've never seen an Adam Sandler movie even remotely as funny as Anchorman.

Can't say I agree bro. Kevin James, David Spade, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler are all definitely not funny. Well Sandler was in the 90s but that's another story.

I despised Anchorman. Didn't find it the slightest bit funny.

The only Adam Sandler movie I've ever mildly enjoyed was Happy Gilmore. The rest of his films offended my sense of humour as a child, and as an adult, I don't bother.

Now that I think about it though, I don't much like comedic funnymen in films. I prefer comedies where actors from other genres play comedic roles.

If you edited Anchorman down to include only all of the Steve Carell lines it would be the funniest movie ever. I did find the movie as a whole to be a little more than slightly funny...but not much more.

True, it was Will Ferrell's typical over the top acting that turned me off. I honestly haven't seen it since it first came out so would be interesting to see if my opinion of it has changed.

Carell is an absolute genius, though. Office for example, he shines. Anchorman was abysmal, I thought, and the only thing Ferrell has done remotely noteworthy is Step Brothers(for what it is), and a few SNL skits. Everything else he's done has been garbage.

Apparently the latest Adam Sandler movie stars him playing two characters. I ****ing hate films that do that.

As a general rule I'd say I agree with you but I have seen it done well. Adaptation comes to mind.

I don't know, Eddie Murphy pulled it off well. Even when he wasn't being funny he was damn good at making characters.

Sandler, however, seemingly only can play one, and is Sandler no matter what he does so this is bound to turn out weird.

Along those lines, I find it interesting to watch Tom Hanks perform as a funnyman in his earlier films. Especially after Saving Private Ryan.

Try watching this movie.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV...0,214,317_.jpg

I typically agree with you but norton does a fantastic job in this.

okay I will give you that kevin james isn't funny but Chris Rock, David Spade and Adam are.

I think Kevin James is pretty funny personally. Not the funniest guy in the world or anything but he has his moments. I'd say he's funnier than David Spade but less funny than Chris Rock.

i only really liked Mr. Deeds and still do, cos the great supporting cast he played off on more than Sandler himself

the Cure-bit in Wedding Singer is chuckle-worthy

that's about it

i'd go for Ben Stiller if you're talking broad comedy

Rezz, if you posted an image, it hasn't shown up.

Haven't seen Adaptation.

And I largely dislike Ben Stiller as well, though I am meant to understand I should see the Royal Tenenbaums, but that's more because of Wes Anderson than it is Ben Stiller.

I would recommend it strictly because of Gene Hackmans role, although Stiller is excellent as the overbearing father figure.

I don't think any particular actor's performance particularly stands out in The Royal Tenenbaums, at least not as much as f.ex Bull Murray does in Life Aquatic or Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore. It's a fine film, though.

x2


And, I love The Wedding Singer. None of Sandler's other movies can hold my attention for the full length of the film. Well, Reign Over Me was decent imo, but wasn't a comedy, and I thought Don Cheadle was better than Sandler anyway.

This is what I tried to post, Leaves Of Grass.


http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2008/09/0...ass-poster.jpg

Click was the film that turned me off Sandler

can't stand him

Can I add a "Used to be Funny" option to this thread, Tore?

^^or "somewhat funny", only if there's a good supporting cast?

@Rezz He plays a pair of twins in that, does he not? I can live with that. Also, I make it a point to see all of his films, so I've been meaning to get to it anyways.

Yes he plays an educated well spoken one and a ignorant moron. Really pulls it off well. Norton is truly one of the best actors of the last few decades imo. People give him American History X but he has really put out so many more great movies.

If you want a link I can pm you one so you could watch it online.

^^I loved him in The Incredible Hulk, though the movie was quite crap