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"Big Daddy" | page 1, 2
Big Daddy
But for all "Big Daddy's" amiable and decidedly warped appeal, a comedy still succeeds or fails by how much it can make you laugh. And the film's jokes, stretched out over 90 minutes, aren't that funny. A running gag about Sonny's contempt for Corinne's past as a Hooters waitress falls flat the first time, but it's beaten into the ground and flogged lifeless. And the bucketsful of pee, spit and puke that litter the film seem naughty at first but soon become just plain tiresome. Sandler and his fellow writers don't quite know what to do with the other members of the cast -- there's a foreign delivery guy (the consistently insufferable Rob Schneider), a weirdo homeless dude (Steve Buscemi, who had memorably hilarious cameos in "Billy Madison" and "The Wedding Singer," but strikes out here) and a cantankerous old barfly (Edmund Lyndeck) with the worst teeth this side of "Austin Powers." What movie are these characters supposed to be acting in? They have almost nothing to do with the plot, and their pathetic antics aren't funny enough to stand on their own as set pieces. They're just padding -- bad, bad padding. Finally, casting Leslie Mann and Joey Lauren Adams ("Chasing Amy") as squeaky-voiced sisters certainly scores points for believability, but add a small child wif his own weird wittle speech pattens to the mix, and you've got yourself a movie that at times makes you wish it were dubbed. As we settle into yet another summer of doofuses (Austin and Jar Jar are just the beginning), Adam Sandler may yet emerge as a dork to be reckoned with. His
aggressive crankiness appeals to anyone who's ever wanted to toss a stick in
the path of a speeding roller blader, his innocently juvenile sense of
humor speaks to those who can still work up a giggle over the word "poop"
and his gentle concern for all things small and helpless speaks to those of
us who like to believe that it's possible to possess both a decent soul and a certain vulgarity of character. It's a concept not without its sweet appeal -- if only it were a little wittier, I might
actually be convinced.
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