Who would have guessed the most enduring “Saturday Night Live” graduate would be Adam Sandler?
Not Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd or Bill Murray.
Sandler isn’t a great mimic, nor does his slapstick outstrip his peers. He’s not verbally dexterous, like a Dennis Miller, and he hasn’t created any iconic characters like Mike Myers or Dana Carvey.
Does he even have a catchphrase to his credit?
He just makes money hand over fist at the box office on a pretty regular basis at a time when very few movie stars can say the same. He’ll likely do it again Feb. 11 with the release of “Just Go With It,” his latest comedy co-starring Jennifer Aniston.
What’s his secret?
I’ve never been a fan of Sandler’s comic shtick even though I admire his penchant for tackling challenging films like “Punch Drunk Love” and “Spanglish.” I despise “Billy Madison” with a vengeance and find most of his comedy vehicles lazy at best. Even “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” which began with such promise, became simply another venue for his haphazard comedy.
I still have a soft spot for Sandler. The comedian, during his “SNL” tenure, appeared at my university during the early 1990s to perform his stand-up routine. He graciously took questions from the local press – a humble gathering including this future movie scribe. He couldn’t have been more pleasant even though my peers arrived at the interview woefully under-prepared.
And it’s rare to read anything negative about Sandler’s off-screen behavior. He seems loyal to his troupe of players like Rob Schneider and John Turturro and never utters a divisive sound bit like his peers.
Is that why he remains a box office draw? Does his average guy shtick wear well with the movie going public? Or is it his willingness to give the public what it wants in between the occasional artistic stretching?
(Photo art: Adam Sandler stands as one of the most successful – and enduring – box office talents from the “Saturday Night Live” rep company.)
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Sandler seems to have a likable, shlubby presence. His Happy Madison movies are never masterpieces, but they seem to consistently deliver on a basic level. They’re perfectly good disposable entertainment.
We watched “Grown Ups” this weekend and I found myself pondering the very same conundrum. My best guess is his “everyman” appeal. In many of his movies he plays a regular joe dealing with unusual circumstances, sometimes choosing the selfish and/or immature way (the way we wish we could act) at first but usually resolving everything successfully in the end. And with his ordinary looks and laid back delivery style, he comes across as someone you might actually know. Maybe it is just because everyone likes his Hanukkah song.
He has the ability to tap into the lowest forms of humor, that doesn’t require thought as to why. A fart joke is a fart joke. There’s something child-like about him that comes across on the screen that is non-threatening to men, and makes women want to pat his cheek. In his private life, he’s seen as extremely loyal to his friends, the type of guy who doesn’t forget where he came from. On top of that, he’s a family man w/o gossip scandals and from all accounts, is a genuinely nice guy. Whether you love or hate his movies, how could you dislike him as a person? I happen to think some of his movies are hilarious, I didn’t even dislike the much panned Funny People. Grown Ups wasn’t funny, at all, but it came out on 4th of July weekend, had a theme of patriotism, family, and jokes appealing to preteens. This made it a mostly safe movie for parents to take their kids to see. Kind of genius, actually.
I wouldn’t mind sitting down and having a beer with Adam Sandler… and therein lies his appeal. I don’t consider him a movie star, just some guy who stars in movies for a living.
Great comments, all. Thanks for the thoughtful replies. It looks like we’ll be getting more Sandler movies for the forseeable future …
It truly baffles the mind.
Actors and reporters have become so incestuous that simply being known is considered a commodity. It is, but there is a limit to it because eventually people know things about you that taint the movies you make. Sandler seems genuinely humble. He just wants to make people laugh, stay close to his friends, and just happen to make money from it.
Even though most of his brand of humor is rather low, it’s universal and his movies tend to have a very real beating heart to them. Even with the ridiculous 50 first dates, he managed to make it charming even with some of the ridiculous characters. It’s really no different than apatow in my opinion, it’s just that Sandler doesn’t get all the fawning buz. Just a good fun 90 minutes watching a movie staring a bunch of guys you can’t help but like.
Except for billy madison, I love the movie, but I hated the character.
Personally, I have nothing against Sandler who comes across as a likeable person. I just wish his movies were funny instead of tiresome. It sure would help if he’d stop casting painfully untalented actors like Rob Schneider.
From every interview and every person that is asked about Adam Sandler they all say the same thing, he is a nice guy. I have yet to hear one person say they have had a bad experiance with him and it carries over into his acting and his movies. While I personally dont like all of his movies, there is not one of them I couldnt sit down and watch.
He never looks down on his audience, coastal varieties or not. You’d think Hollywood could learn something from that kind of behavior. You’d think.
Also loved him in Reign Over Me. Uneven movie overall, sure, but one of the few honest portrayals of a post-9/11 American, particularly one who loves his city (and country) like Sandler does.
May he rot in Hell for making me waste money on “Little Nicky”…other than that, I like his films like the “Wedding Singer” and even including “Spanglish”.
Sandler makes movies that people love and hate, but for most of the part, he made movies people can (and don’t mind to) watch. I’d say watching a Sandler marathon is a lot less painful than seeing a marathon of most actor/actress in Hollywood today. And, of course, as everyone have said here, he’s not threatening for men. Your wifes and gfs don’t drool excessively over Sandler. And, he looks harmless for the ladies. He looks like a well-rounded friendly kinda guy, that’s why people doesn’t mind to keep watching his movies.