Review of Jack and Jill (2011) by James F — 24 Sep 2012

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way- it's obvious! The whole character of Jill is way too unconvincing, even for a comedy- or even for an SNL skit. It's doesn't feel like she's so over-the-top that it's funny, it just feels lazy.

From the preview, it looked like it was trying to be bad, like one of the fake movies from Funny People. So here's the thing, YES it is bad. However, there IS good in this movie. Call me crazy, some of Jill's lines are actually very funny- we just hate the character who's saying them and we hate the product placement-infused-lazily-premised movie that she's in.

In between the fart jokes, I caught myself smiling every once in a while. Also, Al Pacino is hilarious. He's not just a cameo, he's a huge role. I thought he'd be looking like Bruce Willis in Cop Out, but his performance is so enthusiastic and passionate- I loved it.

One more thing, there's a moment at the very end (after the classic abrupt Sandler sappy ending) when this movie felt like it was about to rag on itself in self-awareness, and possibly make a point- but sadly, no.

This was the perfect movie to satire every bad movie Sandler has done. To turn this into a jab at himself, or a parody, or anything with a similar point would have potentially made this movie more interesting and maybe even likable.