Review of The Do-Over (2016) by Shawn R — 02 Jun 2016

It is too easy to hate on Sandler, It's a know fact that over the last few years most of his movies are just location based films he uses to travel around. This one was no different. It was at best a D rated film, that wouldn't get a second glance from any viewer if it wasn't for that last remaining hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be remotely as funny as Adam Sandler films of old. Don't sweat it, its not.

Sandler plays another unlikable, good at everything, loser who is much more skilled than his job or social status suggest. Spades plays a unexplainably naive social outcast. The typical Spade loser character that has zero understanding of society and the world, yet is some how explained to be a "Smart Nerd" and for plot reasons a computer genius. I can try and blame the plot, which would be easy since its terrible, but its more accurate to say neither actor pulls of the part.

It hard to watch a comedy where the laughs are scarce, the jokes are crude and at best juvenile, and the plot is carried by one implausible event after another. The most surprising thing about this movie is how it manages to have so many plot twists and shocks and yet remain so predictable. Its attempts at creating a deeper story by bending the truth here and there false flatter than its jokes.

Deep in my heart I know Sandler can still make god movies. "That's my boy" was funny. No where near as good as his old movies but funny, the bad jokes had a place, they made sense in the story but you cant just use the same jokes and plot elements in every movie. You cant write different characters with different motives and backgrounds but end up acting them all the same and have them all make the same stupid jokes. Lets face it the heart of every Adam Sandler comedy, is that he is a super hero. He can kick ass get all the girls and proceed to make crude high school jokes. That's cool and can work when you play a likable character like Mr.Deed, or a literal super hero in Zohan, but it gets tiring.

I still believe there can be good Sandler movies, just not with his old washed up comedy buddies and not when he has so much power to do what ever he wants. He needs adult supervision, just like every single character that he portrays.