Frank Coraci
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The sector of the audience that comes to an Adam Sandler movie for the crude stuff won't warm up to this mid-life crisis, with its obvious echoes of Frank Capra's holiday perennial It's a Wonderful Life .
2 Stars (out of 4) Tweet Button Pushing By Jeffrey M. Anderson Adam Sandler's latest is a high-concept idea borrowed from It's a Wonderful Life (1946) that had the potential to be as deeply touching as The Truman Show (1998), but sways too far one direction into the vulgar and too far the other into the maudlin.
The title of the movie surely should have read "Cliché" for its outright rip-off of It's a Wonderful Life and every other movie about the value of family over a self-absorbed, super-charged work ethic.
But it's much more ambitious than those movies, thanks to a premise that recalls classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" and a bigger budget to accommodate the extensive makeup and visual effects.
Some of "Click" pays tribute to "It's a Wonderful Life" and (even more astonishingly) "A Christmas Carol."
It's watching Sandler channel Jimmy Stewart in Click, a film that owes more than a little to It's a Wonderful Life.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Directed by John Sturges
influenced The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
Themes Plot
The title itself is a nod to John Sturges' genre landmark "The Magnificent Seven" (also referenced by Quentin Tarantino's upcoming homage "The Hateful Eight").
Anyway, the film from frequent Sandler collaborator Frank Coraci (“The Wedding Singer,” “The Waterboy,” “Click”) is a Western, in theory, because it takes place in the American West and it’s a knock-off of “The Magnificent Seven.”
"The Ridiculous Six" (really, really not to be confused with "The Magnificent Seven" or Tarantino's upcoming "The Hateful Eight") arrived Friday on Netflix; you've already heard about Native Americans walking off set because they were being disrespected, which was no surprise.
Mired in pre-release controversy over its supposedly offensive characterizations of Native Americans — which drove some extras to abandon the project — Sandler’s first of four exclusive features for Netflix turns out to be distasteful in every regard, an abysmal riff on “The Magnificent Seven” in which hoary stereotypes and oater clichés are exploited for equally groan-worthy gags.
Ostensibly a spoof of “The Magnificent Seven” and other classic frontier epics (as well as a conveniently timed appetizer before Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming “The Hateful Eight”), “The Ridiculous 6” poses no challenge to “Blazing Saddles” in that particular department, and indeed might as well have been titled “Western Movie,” given its resemblance to the barrel-bottom-scraping spoofs of the Friedberg/Seltzer school.
Spanning a punishing two-hour run-time (only eight minutes shorter than The Magnificent Seven, but with several more references to "weenie pee-pee"), the adventure takes many detours.
(Blazing Saddles has been cited as an inspiration, but Sandler more tries to imitate Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West, only to fail so miserably that it ends up making that mess seem like an all-timer).
Unlike “Blazing Saddles” or even Seth MacFarlane’s intolerable “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” the film doesn’t try to satirize its famed Western predecessors; instead, it merely appropriates stale tropes in order to stage pitiful slapstick pratfalls and straight-faced climactic showdowns.
Ostensibly a spoof of “The Magnificent Seven” and other classic frontier epics (as well as a conveniently timed appetizer before Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming “The Hateful Eight”), “The Ridiculous 6” poses no challenge to “Blazing Saddles” in that particular department, and indeed might as well have been titled “Western Movie,” given its resemblance to the barrel-bottom-scraping spoofs of the Friedberg/Seltzer school.
Both films attempted to create a Blazing Saddles-quality western spoof, but all they ended up doing was shooting themselves in the foot and making a cataclysmic mess.
A zoo is a location made to order for amusing slapstick set pieces and outrageous situations -- just think what Jerry Lewis did with a hotel in "The Bellboy" and with a department store in "Who's Minding the Store?"
A zoo is a location made to order for amusing slapstick set pieces and outrageous situations -- just think what Jerry Lewis did with a hotel in "The Bellboy" and with a department store in "Who's Minding the Store?"
Warrior (2011)
Directed by Gavin O'Connor
influenced Here Comes the Boom (2012)
Plot Themes Characters
Part Rocky, part Warrior (the 2011 mixed martial arts drama), Boom is a fight film for the family, a feel-good cage match that wears its tattooed heart on its rippling bicep.
The movie has been compared to "Warrior," but its story of a goofball fighting on behalf of children really owes more to "Nacho Libre," ("When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants.").
It's the combination of Warrior and Mr. Holland's Opus nobody asked for, but here it comes anyway, landing with a thump.
As to the absurdity of the “sport” of mixed martial arts, which is little more than barroom brawling with no biting or broken bottles, this is an improvement on one of the worst films of 2011, “Warrior,” which expected us to take it seriously.
The schoolteacher-moonlighting-in-MMA character also appeared in last year's male weepie Warrior , played by Joel Edgerton , though Boom invests further in the fix-our-failing-schools issue making the rounds: Call it Waiting for Superman Punch.
Salute the guy who suffers for his cause, but Scott’s far from an admirable do-gooder or even a conflicted bruiser like Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton’s characters in last year’s “Warrior.”
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
Directed by Steve Carr
influenced The Wedding Singer (1998), Zookeeper (2011)
Themes
As for adults, unless they are exceedingly easy to please?think the people who showed up in droves for 2009's " Paul Blart: Mall Cop "?they'll see right through a script that refuses to give them, and most of the characters onscreen, enough credit.
Best know from TV’s “King of Queens” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” Kevin James, aptly described as “a chaotic pile of a man,” is obviously a better match with Kate, a kindly co-worker, played by Rosario Dawson.
In Paul Blart: Mall Cop, a surprise hit in early 2009, James proved he could attract audiences on his own; and when he simply let his character endure indignity with a strangely Zen-like calm, he could be funny and endearing.
Zookeeper represents Kevin James' second foray into high-concept leading man territory, after 2009's Paul Blart: Mall Cop .
Well, it’s definitely as bad as “ Paul Blart: Mall Cop ,” but at least that movie was sort of fun to ridicule.
Co-produced by Adam Sandler, "Mall Cop" has an innate sweetness that's reminiscent of Sandler's 1998 romantic comedy "The Wedding Singer," although the laughs don't quite reach those levels.
Hot Rod (2007)
Directed by Akiva Schaffer
influenced by The Wedding Singer (1998), The Waterboy (1998)
The same explanation, however, doesn't hold true for the rest of the lameness on display, from the plethora of unimaginative pratfalls and wasted opportunities to, finally, the incessant '80s nostalgia (references to Footloose and The Karate Kid, music from the band Europe) that Samberg and his buddies don't seem to realize became played out sometime shortly after 1998's The Wedding Singer.
And in a double-take-worthy role, revered actress Sissy Spacek graces the screen as Rod’s mom, a la Kathy Bates in Sandler ’s The Waterboy .
One of the more interesting aspects of the movie is the fact that Sandler's girls are essentially tomboys, with haircuts lifted directly from Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" and an enthusiasm for organized sports (one of them is named Espn, after the 24-hour sports channel).
That's what happens in "The Waterboy" (1998), which I like to believe is a parody of "Forrest Gump" (1994).
Actually, it's kind of a cross between the simple-man-succeeding-against-all-odds good spirit of "Forrest Gump" (with many more elements inspired from Robert Zemeckis' masterpiece: the screwy girl next door -played by the funny and incredibly sexy goth chick Fairuza Balk-, the motherly advice, the football...) and the overmothered-child-who-releases-his-fury aspect of De Palma's "Carrie".
Though Walken's character is merely a retread of Christopher Lloyd's crack scientist in Back to the Future, he infuses all of the energy into this lethargic film.
The call comes via a universal remote given to him by a bushy-haired Christopher Walken (doing a calmer variation of Christopher Lloyd's Doc role in Back to the Future).
We've also seen a good deal of "Click" in other movies, "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol" and "Back to the Future" chief among them.
2 Stars (out of 4) Tweet Button Pushing By Jeffrey M. Anderson Adam Sandler's latest is a high-concept idea borrowed from It's a Wonderful Life (1946) that had the potential to be as deeply touching as The Truman Show (1998), but sways too far one direction into the vulgar and too far the other into the maudlin.
Sandler's artistic indecisiveness continues in "Click," a film he probably hoped would do for him what "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Truman Show" did for Jim Carrey.
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Directed by Steve Pink
influenced by The Wedding Singer (1998)
Themes Plot
Hot Tub Time Machine does have some decent laughs and it out does The Wedding Singer with its plethora of 1980s references.
It�s more of an affable romp, The Hangover by way of The Wedding Singer: three guys having a wild and crazy night back in the �80s, though they began the night in 2010.
So James is stuck in routines echoing other movies: replaying the Ben-Hur chariot scene as a bike race in Boston traffic; doing a car singalong, � la Wayne's World's "Bohemian Rhapsody," but to Flo Rida's "Low" and with a gorilla named Bernie.
It's one of those great comedy performances (think Steve Martin in "Roxanne" or Eddie Murphy in "The Nutty Professor") that you hope people remember come awards time.
Good, but this was much better when it was called Scrooged .
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
Directed by Seth MacFarlane
influenced The Ridiculous 6 (2015)
Themes
At least Seth MacFarlane's "A Million Ways to Die in the West", itself pretty damn awful, had a point about the absurd masculinity of the time period.
(Blazing Saddles has been cited as an inspiration, but Sandler more tries to imitate Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West, only to fail so miserably that it ends up making that mess seem like an all-timer).
Unlike Seth MacFarlane’s moronic A Million Ways to Die in the West, Ridiculous isn’t even particularly interested in mocking the conventions of Western movies or the historical Old West.
Unlike “Blazing Saddles” or even Seth MacFarlane’s intolerable “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” the film doesn’t try to satirize its famed Western predecessors; instead, it merely appropriates stale tropes in order to stage pitiful slapstick pratfalls and straight-faced climactic showdowns.
Much like Seth McFarlane’s western wreck A Million Ways to Die in the West, The Ridiculous 6 suffers the same pitfalls, but to a much more severe degree.
Viewers who found “A Million Ways to Die in the West” too intellectually taxing should lap it up.
I half expected Favreau’s bear to swipe dialogue from the actor-director’s classic dating exercise “Swingers,” telling James he was “so money” as he tried to win over “beautiful babies.”
Before you think this is an indie rip-off of Click , with Dano stepping in for Adam Sandler and his life-controlling TV remote, the film develops in far more challenging directions.
It's one of those great comedy performances (think Steve Martin in "Roxanne" or Eddie Murphy in "The Nutty Professor") that you hope people remember come awards time.
In a weird amalgam of two other Eddie Murphy comedies The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle the zookeeper takes the creatures' counsel and transforms himself into an alpha-male boor, a character James doesn't have the meanness to inhabit.