New on DVD

The brilliant best and infantile worst of Adam Sandler

By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies

Oh, Adam Sandler. I've defended the actor for years, and I refuse to give up on him entirely. Like the countless audience members who flock to his pictures, I support the almost obnoxiously popular comedian. But most other critics seem to loathe him. They hated him in his breakthrough film, "Billy Madison" (for the wrong reasons), and they hated his cloying turn in "Big Daddy" (for some of the right reasons). And it's not just critics; even a few of Sandler's fellow comedians have dissed him. Remarking on Sandler's mass appeal, Albert Brooks once said: "Let's do what else America likes. How about cancer? They all seem to get that. Must be good!"

Why such intense vitriol for the seemingly innocuous Cajun Man or Canteen Boy? Here are a few reasons I've heard: He's dumbing down American culture. He's stuck in toilet-humor land. He's lazy and unoriginal. He's offensive. He's unlikable. He's frat-boy mean-spirited. He leads children to violence, bad manners and slackerdom. He's filthy rich from so many stinky pictures.

That's a pretty full checklist of reasons to dislike Sandler, but it's not entirely fair. He's also capable of inspired moments (in the brilliant "Punch-Drunk Love," chiefly) that show unique talent and depth. Through all these years, I've yet to find another comic star who arouses such disdain -- maybe very early Jim Carrey (but by "The Truman Show" he was embraced) and, of course, Jerry Lewis, who thankfully has finally gotten his due, even outside of France. In fact, I'm surprised the French haven't taken to Sandler -- they so love explicating our Ugly Americans. Perhaps one day they will. For now, I'm stepping in. With his newest picture ("You Don't Mess With the Zohan") set to hit theaters, I'm counting down (and up) the six best and four worst of Adam Sandler. We'll see where "Zohan" will end up.

The Best -- Give Him a Chance

6. "Billy Madison" (1995)
"Billy Madison" was the movie where I realized: I think all of this is funny. Why? And why doesn't anyone else understand why I think this is so funny? And who can I discuss this, uh, humor with? It came out amid other mid-'90s movies that lampooned or embraced the imbecile: "Dumb and Dumber" was released the year before, with Jim Carrey receiving similar barbs concerning the downfall of intelligent civilization; "Forrest Gump," the same year, received an Oscar. "Billy Madison" was generally regarded as inane crud -- a formulaic tale of a man/child going back to school to prove to his wealthy father (the great Darren McGavin) that he could indeed run the family business. But it's not the story that's so anarchically amusing, it's the wacky bits of off-the-wall humor (musical numbers, penguins, "The Godfather: Part II") that spin the movie into some inspired moments of sheer lunacy.

5. "Anger Management" (2003)
Peter Segal's "Anger Management" isn't a great movie; it's actually quite disappointing. But by casting an actor who aggressively addresses his need to be Joe Average (Sandler) opposite an icon who typifies Joe Different (Jack Nicholson), Segal lets moments of dazzling comedy shine through. Sandler plays a hard-working guy who's looking forward to a promotion and ready to propose to his girlfriend (Marisa Tomei), but, on a business trip, his life takes a hellish twist when his desire for headphones on a flight escalates into what is mistaken for air rage (this whole sequence is very funny). A judge sentences him to anger-management therapy. His therapist turns out to be a loony, controversial doc (Nicholson), who leads a colorful group-therapy troupe including a gay Luis Guzman and an insane John Turturro. After a misunderstood conflict (involving a blind Harry Dean Stanton -- this movie is chock full of cameos), Sandler gets intensive treatment in which he lives, works and basically breathes with Nicholson. But what to do when your doctor is psychotic? Though "Anger Management" is rife with lampoons of overzealous self-help treatments, it loses sight of its initial joke and rests too often on the crazy antics of its stars. But with Sandler and Nicholson (who makes us laugh when he laughs), the antics are sometimes hilarious. And a near-inspired Nicholson/Sandler duet of "I Feel Pretty" is kind of awesome.

4. "The Wedding Singer" (1998)
Along with the hilarious "Happy Gilmore," "The Wedding Singer" made some viewers and critics take Sandler a bit more seriously. They finally saw that he really can play a believably nice guy who loves children and old people. And, clearly, he's got a soft spot for the '80s. As the once-romantic wedding singer whose sunny outlook on life darkens after he's jilted at the altar, Sandler delivers some of his most comically inspired angry moments. Who can forget his bitterly hilarious (and actually quite good) rendition of "Love Stinks"? And his chemistry with Drew Barrymore, a waitress dating a jerk, is incredibly sweet (much more than in their later "50 First Dates"). The picture also delivers some stellar lampoons of wedding receptions, chiefly with a side-splitting cameo from Steve Buscemi as a drunken brother to the groom. Add a rival wedding singer in Jon Lovitz delivering an especially gross version of "Ladies Night," and throw in the real Billy Idol, and the entire picture just works. For a mainstream Hollywood comedy, this is a keeper -- why Sandler can't return to this kind of fare is frustrating.

3. "Spanglish" (2004)
James L. Brooks, Oscar-winning writer and director of classics like "Terms of Endearment," "Broadcast News" and "As Good as It Gets," was slightly taken to task for "Spanglish" -- in some cases simply for casting Sandler in the lead role. But not only is Sandler perfect as the family-man chef, he's the best thing about the picture (the great Cloris Leachman is a close second). Though it has its flaws, the film's so lived-in, so sweet-natured and so emotionally real that its few stumbles are forgettable next to its many terrific moments (Sandler and a sandwich being one of my favorites). And it's Sandler who creates such a meaningful character -- a guy who's offbeat but very recognizable, sweet but clearly addled. The Sandler mixture of rage and romanticism (which really should be taken more seriously as a cry for the Everyman -- much like Paul Giamatti in "Sideways") is wonderfully displayed in relation to his wife (played by Tea Leoni), and his chemistry with Paz Vega is strangely sizzling. More than anyone (even the gorgeous Vega), Sandler injects the picture with its substance -- the struggles of a regular guy who's not so regular after all.

Next