Review of Big Daddy (1999) by Melvin W — 19 Jun 2012

Sonny: I had a mother lined up for him, but she's bangin' the Pepperidge Farm guy and the kid won't stop peeing and throwing up, he's like a cocker spaniel. .

"Nature called. Look who answered.".

Big Daddy is one of the better Adam Sandler comedies. None of his standard comedies are as good as the drama/comedies of Punch Drunk Love or Funny People, but he has made a few good ones(despite what everyone says). Sure his brand of comedy is the same in every film and that brand isn't incredibly intelligent, but their not meant to be. I'm not the biggest fan of Sandler, but I hate how everyone just rips on him constantly. Who gives a shit if he makes dumb comedies. Don't watch them. Many of his movies I don't like either, but he's gotten rich as fuck with this brand of comedy. I wouldn't stop making the same movie either. .

Sonny is a 30 year old man who works one day a week and never gets up early enough to have McDonald's breakfast. His girlfriend is getting fed up with him. He does nothing, living off $200,000 that he got when his foot was ran over by a taxi. One day a kid shows up at his door. The letter says the kid is Sonny's roommates kid. Since his roommate is out, he decides to take care of him over the weekend until he can get him with a lined up foster family. Then, after spending time with him, he decides the kid may be exactly what he needs right now.

The drama is predictable and the comedy is the same. Still, the movie doesn't have Sandler acting too ridiculous or sporting a dumb, supposedly funny, voice. The relationship with the kid isn't done intelligently, but still comes off as somewhat touching in a different way. There's more comedic scenes that work in Big Daddy then some of Sandler's other average works. .

If you can just enjoy an unimportant and less than original comedy for an hour and a half, this isn't too bad. It's not going to win any awards, but it should entertain. There's much better comedies out there, but there's also much worse. I know there's a lot of people out there that think Sandler is the worst thing in the film industry, but he just isn't. .