It's been a while since Adam Sandler made a movie that critics were really gung ho for. His highest-rated movie in recent years was Top Five, and that was a Chris Rock vehicle he just popped up in. People really hated his recently Netflix movie The Do-Over, with only a 5% minority giving it positive reviews. Critics reviews have even been mixed on the Hotel Transylvania animated movies, but despite this a third is in the works. It seems Adam Sandler can't really catch a break in the critical sphere, and he knows it. Regardless, he recently stated that he doesn't really care that all his movies get bad reviews. Speaking ahead of the upcoming movie Sandy Wexler Adam Sandler explained that he still believes in his own work:
I know what they're going to say to every movie -- they're going to say they don't like it. We'll be OK. I believe in my stuff. That's important to me and my friends and the people I make the movies for. I like them, that's the good news.
If you are celebrity with a lot of star power who is making movies, you might as well make the movies you like to make. As a comedian, Adam Sandler only has his own perspective to fall back on, and he told the Press Association that he feels the movies he is making are fun for himself and his friends. We've already learned in the past that Adam Sandler often films movies in locations he has always wanted to vacation in, so the idea of making movies for himself and his friends isn't new. Still, it's interesting to hear him say he is impervious to the bad reviews. He defends the movies he's making, and to his credit, they do make him a lot of money.
Adam Sandler certainly has a point of view that is both goofy and geared toward juvenile humor. Sometimes those jokes work--as I would argue they do in movies like Hotel Transylvania. Sometimes those jokes are lazy, but most of his movies are certainly watchable, even when they aren't the best from a narrative perspective. There are a few Adam Sandler movies I've had trouble sitting through, including Jack and Jill and The Ridiculous Six, but there are plenty of Adam Sandler movies that had their moments even when they were silly. I rather enjoyed Pixels and even the The Do-Over, even though the latter is only running at 5% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Collectively, Sandler's only positive rated Sandler-esque comedies are Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer. Critics have also liked Punch-Drunk Love, Stupidity, Funny People and Reign Over Me. But critics have dumped all over movies like Billy Madison, Spanglish, Fifty First Dates, Big Daddy and many, many more.
Adam Sandler's latest movie Sandy Wexler is a nineties throwback film headed to Netflix on April 14. The movie is being made as part of an extended overall deal the comedian has made with Netflix, so whether or not you agree with the critics, there are plenty of Sandler movies to come. To gauge whether or not you think this one will get good ratings, take a look at the full trailer and see what else Netflix has coming up with our premiere schedule.
