Adam Sandler's New Film

What's this? A new Adam Sandler trailer? 

Why do I want to see this movie? I don't know. I haven't seen any of his recent movies. I think the last one I saw was Click (2006), the smash hit family comedy about a man who is given a remote that can manipulate time, based off of the 1997 Goosebumps episode of the same name.

Not Kidding.

But still, I kinda wanna see this movie. Sandler has a lot of Sandler-sub-genres, such as family comedies like Click, Grown Ups (2010), and Jack and Jill (2011) and romantic comedies like 50 First Dates (2004) and Just Go With It (2011). This new movie looks like a combination of those two. It's probably gonna be really shitty. 

Still, I want to see it. Why?

Maybe because I want a reason to hate it? 

Maybe because I like Drew Barrymore?

Maybe because I see a glimmer of hope in it?

Well, let me just go through what I saw, step by step.

This is the first shot of the trailer. 

Hooters...is hilarious. According to Adam Sandler. Anyway, I wanna start off by saying the trailer makes probably the worst first impression any trailer has ever made. I say that because I don't watch a lot of trailers. And also because it made me want to turn it off in the first few seconds. 

Who has a first date at Hooters? And why are we still making jokes about Hooters? 

Adam Sandler is still convinced that Hooters is relevant. It may have been funny when you made Big Daddy (1998), but that was 16 years ago. Everyone has gotten over it. We only go there for the wings, now. Seeing a girl being objectified for corporate profit is no longer a rarity. You can just walk outside to see that. 

The next thing we see is a total mystery. Why do comedy trailers insist on just throwing outrageous things at us? The first exchange between Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore tells us only that he works at Dicks Sporting Goods

and that Drew Barrymore doesn't like spicy food. Then we get some super hilarious shots of Drew Barrymore spitting and being unable to eat food normally. Adam Sandler Trope #1: If It's Gross, It's Funny

So...So funny.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to this. 

Also, Adam Sandler drank all of her beer, somehow without her knowing. My first question: Does Adam Sandler play a raging alcoholic in this movie? 

Here we have Adam Sandler's daughter. She is stuffing Dr. Scholl's footpads down her training bra...for some reason...When did toilet paper go out of style?

The daughter is played by popular teen Actress Bella Thorne from Disney Channel's Shake it Up. Adam Sandler Trope #2: Beautiful Celebrity Plays a Member of Sandler's Family. Usually His Wife

I'm assuming since he's single, that his wife died, and he'll probably say to Bella Thorne that she looks just like her mom, thereby implying that his wife was hot when she was alive.  

It's now one minute into the trailer and we can pretty much see what the plot is. Sandler and Barrymore have a bad blind date. Their credit cards are switched. When he goes to give hers back, he happens to find out her friend is the romantic partner of his boss, who because of their recent breakup will be cancelling their trip to Africa. Both Sandler and Barrymore, through this connection, buy the vacation from the boss. I guess there was enough vacation (plane tickets, hotel rooms, accommodations? I don't know. Logistics were not explained thoroughly in the trailer) for two families. 

As the premise is set up, four more Sandler tropes are introduced. 

Trope #3 Everyone Has a Nice House

Trope #4: Antagonizing Children

"Believe me, Frodo, I don't like her either."

Trope 5: Romantic Interest Has an Obnoxious Friend

Trope # 6: Shouting

And then comes the real jackpot 

A colorful, reverent portrait of another rich and vibrant culture. You're doing god's work, Adam Sandler.

But then, in all seriousness, there's one funny part. 

I chuckled when I heard Bella Thorne say "butthole". I think it's a funny word. When Adam Sandler says she can say it if she wants, but then tells the younger one not to say it, I also laughed. I guess because he treats his daughters like a posse. He arbitrarily decides who can and can't do what, and they all wear the same outfits. I guess because he gets them from Dick's Sporting goods. Not sure why they have the same haircut, though. 

 Ooooh, ooh! Trope #7! Random SNL Cameo!

What follows is a montage of crazy Africa hi-jinks, where their caricature Tour guide shows them the "real Africa", which consists of riding Ostriches, watersports, warm family moments, and dance offs. 

#realAfrica

 Then there are two more gags, one with a lion eating a pig and scaring the kids, and another where Drew Barrymore is para-sailing from a jeep that stalls and she has to run back to the earth. The second one might actually be a funny scene. 

So as a result, I see another stupid romantic comedy coming out from Adam Sandler, that is likely to recycle a lot of his old shtick. There are one or two things in it that made me laugh a little bit, but mostly I was kind of disgusted. I guess I will admit that the beginning scene, while gross, is at least honest in portraying what kind of movie it's going to be. 

And yet there's something enticing about the film. But then again, it might just be because it doesn't look like utter shit. There's no bullshit premise like in Jack and Jill, no ensemble of annoying characters like in Grownups, and I didn't see Nick Swardson in the trailer. 

I feel like I might have the same experience that many horror movie fans had when they saw The Conjuring (2013). Everything else in the cannon is so horrendous, that this might be okay in comparison. 

That doesn't necessarily make it worth seeing, but if I do, then it could make for a fab review. 

Is that a to be continued...?

No, probably not.