The 1990s are alive again!
BQB here with a review of Adam Sandler’s latest Netflix comedy.
It’s the last decade of the second millennium and Sandy Wexler (Adam Sandler) is the worst agent in all of Hollywood. He’s a bumbling, incompetent boob with a wacky voice, big window pane glasses and all sorts of disgusting quirks. He lies constantly, makes weird outbursts and can’t eat anything without getting it all over anyone in his vicinity.
His clients stink too, ranging from a stunt man who can’t stop destroying himself (Nick Swardson) to one of the creepiest ventriloquists of all time (Kevin James).
All that changes when Sandy discovers singer Courtney Clarke (Jennifer Hudson). She quickly becomes Sandy’s first client with talent ever. As her career blasts off, Sandy ends up going through the ringer of a town known for chewing people up and spitting them out.
This movie is a celebration of all things 90s. The funky neon shirts, the cars, the popular products of the day, the styles, the pop culture, it’s all on full display, coming across as Adam Sandler’s love song to the decade that made him big. Believe it or not but there was a scene that made me miss Fruitopia. Mmm. Fruitopia. Do you remember Fruitopia? It was actually pretty good. I want one right now.
The whole story is narrated by a plethora of 1990s era celebrities. Pauly Shore, Jewel, Lisa Loeb, Downtown Julie Brown, Arsenio Hall are just some of the big names of yesteryear that pop in, making me depressed that the decade I came of age in is so far gone now.
Oh well. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Jennifer Hudson’s beauty and singing skills are the best parts of the film, leaving me to wonder why she is so underutilized in Hollywood. She makes the film great but there was a part of me that thought, “This poor, classy woman. She’s so much better than this. She should be headlining major films.”
Oh well. Maybe Hollywood will get the message on J-Hud sooner or later.
There’s a divided verdict out there on Adam Sandler. If you were born in the 80s or before, you probably love him. If you were born in the 90s or after, you hate him. All of his movies usually involve him embracing a zany character and then following through on the character’s quirks to an eventual conclusion.
Personally, I love Adam Sandler, but if I’m channeling my movie critic side, I’d have to say that his two best films were Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. He had one great comeback with Don’t Mess with the Zohan and then it has been choppy waters ever since.
Thus, I think Adam has found a good home on Netflix. Streaming allows his fans like me to find him without drawing the ire of millennials who take a look at the Sandman without being completely baffled about what he’s up to.
Then again, sometimes I’m baffled about what Adam is up to. Hell, I bet even Adam is baffled.
Why is this man funny? The world may never know…but he is….sometimes. He’s kind of like your home team. He wins some. He loses some. You root for him because you have fond memories of when he won some and you’re waiting for him to win some again.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy.
Bookshelf Battle 