Adam Sandler is like beer. In his best comic roles, he's as strong as a good lager or ale...or something. (I'm not a beer critic, people!) While The Wedding Singer is easily entertaining enough to recommend, what we're offered here is Sandler Lite, which is just the same as regular Sandler - only watered down quite a bit to better please the masses. An actor cannot live on the goodwill of pre-teen boys alone.
Early in his film career, Adam Sandler single-handedly cornered the market on the whole 'infantile and loving it' brand of cinematic comedy. After bit roles in such "wacky" comedies as Coneheads, Airheads and Mixed Nuts, Sandler got his first starring role, and the world was offered Billy Madison. Thus commenced the parade of childish vulgarity that is the Adam Sandler filmography. Happy Gilmore simply expounded upon such breast and doody jokes, and let's not forget about Sandler starring with Damon Wayans in Bulletproof. (Oh, you missed that one? Lucky you.)
So Adam already had the 14-year old boy demographic firmly in his grasp. The plan was to expand this group to hopefully include a few female fans. Suffice to say that The Wedding Singer exploded at the box office, thus creating a huge female fanbase who refer to Sandler as "...like, he's soooo cute...and funny!"
But all that aside, the main is question is that of laughs. As in "Is this a movie that will make me laugh?" If you're already a fan of Sandler, I can offer a hearty affirmative...and if you don't much care for his juvenile antics, this is the movie that MAY sway your opinion. Look, if you end up hating Adam Sandler on the basis of The Wedding Singer, trust me and DO NOT see any of his other movies...especially The Waterboy.
So I told you all that so I could tell you this: I dig Adam Sandler quite a bit. It's just that I feel he basically makes the same identical movie every year, and his act is starting to wear a little thin. Hoping to curb his more vulgar image, the producers here have toned Sandler down quite a bit, and while it's a welcome sight to see him playing a sweet guy, deep down it just doesn't feel right.
This time around, Sandler plays Robbie Hart (...hart...get it?), and Robbie is...you guessed it...a wedding singer. Robbie has recently been left at the altar by his skeezy girlfriend when he meets the lovably goofy Julia. Long story short? They fall in love. Unfortunately, Julia's already engaged and Robbie is an infantile weenie.
Did I mention that all of this takes place in the eighties? Yeah, it's kind of fun for a while, but maybe we need a little more distance before we start ragging on the eighties...at least until I stop wearing my Michael Jackson glove anyway. The somewhat clever screenplay is packed to the gills with 1980's music, clothes and vocabulary, but the overall effect is fairly listless.
Except for one standout scene of Robbie flipping out onstage, Sandler plays the role quite mellow. That's not to say he should start practicing his Oscar speeches any time soon, but he showed a little range here. (Hey, it's all relative.) As the free-spirited Julia, Drew Barrymore is a lot of fun to watch. She reminds me of a babysitter I used to have who giggled a lot and smelled real pretty...
Where was I? Oh yeah. The Wedding Singer. Here's the deal. If you're a 15-year old girl and you're looking for a romantic comedy, this is the one for you. To my fellow Sandler Fans, I contend that there's some quality Sandler stuff, buried under all the silly (and derivative) romance fluff and the intermittently amusing eighties kitsch.
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