Throughout his movie career, Adam Sandler has played all kinds of characters. From the sarcastic everyman to the eccentric goofball, his characters can definitely be unique at times and, at the very least, memorable. But one aspect of Sandler’s Hubie Halloween character, Hubie Dubois, is actually derived from the actor’s real life.
Adam Sandler’s latest comedy offering for Netflix is about a Halloween fan who monitors his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts in order to make sure everyone is safely trick-or-treating. But one ironic (and pretty funny) part about Hubie Dubois’ character is that he gets frightened easily, making his job that much harder. Well, Adam Sandler recently told Polygon that this particular aspect of the character is actually true to his own personality:
In real life, I get scared pretty easy. When I come home and the lights are off, I’m not excited, I don’t like that. [laughs] I’ll push my wife in there, I go, 'What’s going on? Come on, come on, check out the kitchen.' It’s pathetic.
I have to admit, the easily frightened personality of Hubie Dubois in Hubie Halloween was one of the better aspects of the whole comedy. It makes his character both likable for his courage and oddly funny when he does freak out over the consistent Halloween scares.
Though he’s made a ton of comedies throughout his career, Hubie Halloween is a rarity for Sandler because it's a horror-comedy And after watching the movie, this comes as a bit of a surprise, considering it’s a pretty well done Adam Sandler comedy. Maybe the actor has put off doing one for so long because of the fact that he scares so easily?
That’s not to say Hubie Halloween is actually scary, though. It does a good job playing on horror and Halloween tropes and motifs, but they keep the tone consistently warm, silly, and humorous, much to its benefit. Overall, Hubie Halloween is a fun time, mostly thanks to Adam Sandler and his recurring cast of friends and comedians, who love working on his films.
In the movie, Hubie Dubois is a kind of man-child still living with his mother and many in the community look down on him for that reason. As he patrols the town during Halloween, he frequently carries a thermos that doubles as a gadget that can do many things. His character has many similarities to The Waterboy's Bobby Boucher and also has been called out for taking elements from his SNL character, the Canteen Boy.
One thing is for sure, Adam Sandler doesn’t have to be afraid of the response to Hubie Halloween, he thinks it’s a hit. While the critical reception hasn't been incredibly high, it seems fans have eaten it up. If you haven’t checked out Hubie Halloween yet, it’s available to watch on Netflix right now.
