Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

FastWalkingShortGuy t1_j05k7r8 wrote

Reply to comment by igner_farnsworth in Adam Sandler wins the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by ZylonBane

He had a couple of stinker movies, but if you go back to his 90s audio albums, the dude had some gold.

He didn't get famous for sucking.

Sandler gets too much hate, IMO.

He even had some decent dramatic moments in some of his movies.

47

LADYBIRD_HILL t1_j05pank wrote

A couple stinkers? Honestly I think he had a couple good movies in the 90s but I'd say a solid 75% of his movies are just not great.

But his dramatic work is great from what I've seen in Punch Drunk Love (made me cry) and uncut gems.

31

RantControl t1_j05q2cg wrote

Punch Drunk Love was great. Every other time I see him I just want to punch him in the face.

4

stackjr t1_j08fwbq wrote

Not great by any means but I liked Reign Over Me.

1

sirbassist83 t1_j08m66a wrote

everything he starred in from airheads to mr deeds was great.

1

igner_farnsworth t1_j05n62c wrote

No hate, just not much memory of thinking he's particularly funny. "You can do it!" stuck with me, but that's about it.

I do appreciate that he keeps putting Jennifer Aniston in a bathing suit... for that alone I'm sure Mark Twain would give him a prize.

9

BadMedAdvice t1_j08ij07 wrote

Thinking back to Waterboy. Strange movie, because he's technically the lead... But in reality, he's just supporting other people's comedy. Like, all the funniest moments are things that other actors do. And it's not even like he's playing the straight man that occasionally has jokes, like Harrold Ramis in Ghostbusters. He's definitely being funny throughout the movie... It's just that all the best lines and acts went to the "supporting" cast. I'd like to think that's deliberate, and give him credit for the unique style.

2

SponConSerdTent t1_j077tdy wrote

Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison are classics, Sandler also was amazing on Saturday Night Live. The dude is legitimately a comedy great.

I prefer comics like George Carlin with some edge to them, but Sandler's goofiness is a purer form of comedy in my eyes.

The movies Click and Spanglish were two of the worst movies I've ever seen, but I don't think you should count the flops against people. Comedy is a genre full of flops, it's really hard to tell which movies are going to be classics until the decades go by.

I don't think anyone making Tommy Boy thought "this is going to be one of the best comedy movies of all time."

5

BadMedAdvice t1_j08j46q wrote

Click had so much potential, though. I wouldn't even count that against him. Think it's just that it tried to push a message, and be a proper comedy at the same time. Didn't really commit to either adequately.

2

SponConSerdTent t1_j08k19y wrote

Sorry To Bother You was a movie that did both, I would call it a dark comedy. Really depends on what message and how cliche it is.

"You never get wasted time back" is about as cliche as it gets.

2

BadMedAdvice t1_j08ksk6 wrote

Well, and it didn't really commit to that message. Nor did it commit to being funny. It tried to span drama and humor equally... And it tripped in the middle. It could have been a good drama with some funny moments. It could have been a good comedy with a message behind it. Instead, it was neither.

2

SponConSerdTent t1_j08mv18 wrote

I agree. Also Sandler's goofy shtick doesn't work well with dark themes. A different actor/writer could have done it justice.

The movie would work much better as a dark comedy, but Sandler doesn't really do those. Also think the movie would have been much more effective at the message if they didn't end up taking it all back in the end- like if I'm remembering correctly he ends up going back in time and gets to fix all his mistakes, completely defeating the purpose of the message in the first place.

2

awesomesauce1030 t1_j06nw23 wrote

If you have to go back over 20 years to find something funny they've done, they probably don't deserve the Mark Twain Award.

4

EdgeOfWetness t1_j0763kp wrote

> He didn't get famous for sucking.

No, he got famous despite sucking

1