Review of The Do-Over (2016) by Jesse O — 27 May 2016

I said this on my twitter a couple of days ago, but say what you will about Adam Sandler and his films, I have no doubt that he is a smart guy. I say this because this four-movie Netflix deal, that I'm sure Netflix initialized, came at a time where Sandler's box office power is at its weakest.

I'm not saying that his name doesn't mean anything anymore, because it clearly does, but I think it'd mean something more, particularly now, in sequels as opposed to films without an established fan base.

So this deal came along at a perfect time, because it legitimized Netflix's attempts at being a complete media juggernaut, with original scripted series and now films, and it has allowed Adam Sandler to remain relevant in a form of entertainment that's constantly changing with the advances of technology.

With that said, Sandler's first film under the deal, The Ridiculous Six, was interesting, since it was an attempt at a genre film, Sandler has stayed far away from those, it's not as easy of a sell as a straightforwardly broad comedy is, which is what Sandler has specialized in.

The Ridiculous Six ended up being a really bad movie, though I thought it was better than Grown Ups 2 and Jack and Jill. The thing about the Ridiculous Six, while a bad movie, I felt that it was actually in tune with Sandler's usual big screen output.

Which brings us to The Do-Over. The fact of the matter is that there's just something about this movie's look that just screams low-budget. The Ridiculous Six while, again, not being very good, at the very least looked like something that might play on the big screen.

The Do-Over doesn't, like they realize they can't cut corners and not necessarily try to make the movie look as nicely as they can. Not that Sandler films themselves have had cinematography like you'd see, as an example, in The Revenant, but they still have that Hollywood shine, as it were.

And this movie doesn't and that starts off the movie on the wrong foot. I'm trying to figure out the last time that an Adam Sandler movie, that isn't either of the Hotel Transylvania films, started out in a fashion that I enjoyed.

I remember Grown Ups 2 started with a peeing deer. As far as Adam Sandler movies go, at the very least this tries a little bit harder than others to have a more serious "story" on top of all the usual Sandler trademarks of gross-out humor, slapstick, homophobia, horrifyingly sexist stereotypes, etc, etc.

One of the blurbs for this film's review that says that 'For years, we've been asking Sandler to try harder. We've been making a huge mistake.' And I would say that that's an accurate statement.

Just because a little more effort is put into having an actual 'narrative', if it can even be called that, doesn't mean that that effort is gonna result into something that's quality. This is the prime example of that.

First things first, the film literally takes about 45 minutes before it really gets going on. They drop bits and pieces of information there to hint at something bigger that's going on, but it's minor.

Essentially, Sandler and Spade spend close to the first hour of the film vacationing in Puerto Rico, where I'm from and currently live. And I'm honestly surprised that they portrayed the island in a positive manner.

They showed its beauty and didn't rely on the lazy and tired racial humor for cheap laughs. So I was surprised. But, I mean, it's obvious why Sandler and Spade came to Puerto Rico and that was because it was a beautiful place they could come to and have a paid vacation and, basically, do minimal work.

Because, seriously, there wasn't anything to the segments that were filmed here. The story advancement is minimal and inconsequential. And it's not like things get better once they go back to the states.

Yes, the story really picks up 45 minutes into the flick, but what's there is convoluted and not particularly interesting. Basically, the people whose identities are stolen by Sandler and Spade's characters, have been involved in some medical experiments that have actually resulted in them finding a cure for cancer.

They were killed by people who wanted to purchase the cure in order to bury it, since the release of this cure would cost companies that produce chemotherapy trillions of dollars in loses. It's ridiculous and absurd.

And it leads to some sentimental moments that are completely out of place. Not because it's a Sandler movie is it out place, because good for him that he attached his name to a script that, at least, tries to make you care about one of its characters, even if they use cancer as an easy crutch instead of actually writing an interesting character that you like and care about.

But it's just the way that it is handled. Like I said, cancer is an easy crutch to rely on and the sentimentality ends up feeling insincere and exploitative of a very real and very serious disease.

They should've found another way to go about telling their story, this one just didn't work. But perhaps, to me, the biggest flaw has to be the fact that I just didn't find the film to be that funny.

And the jokes that were there were unfunny, which isn't really a surprise. Say what you will about Sandler movies, many have and will continue to do so, like myself, but his films are littered with jokes.

They all suck and are lazy, but they're littered with them. This movie just isn't. And for a movie that's over 100 minutes long, and is meant to be a comedy, that's a bit of a problem.

It makes the movie even worse than it already is. I'm sure there were instances where this film made me chuckle, but I legitimately cannot recall them right now. In typical Sandler fashion, every woman in the film is portrayed as a cheating slut, a crazy ex-girlfriend or a manipulative individual who uses her sexuality to get what she wants.

I'm a man and even I was horrified by this, I can't imagine how women would react. I mean it's typical Sandler, it really is, so I can't exactly say I'm surprised much by it. There's also some homophobia, again, another Sandler trademark.

But really, that's not even the reason this movie gets the rating it does. It really is a terrible movie. One that's terrible for different reasons than your usual Sandler flick, but one that's terrible nonetheless.

It misses the mark on its 'cure for cancer' storyline, it's not funny, its characters are unlikable, the film looks low-budget and low-brow. Take your fucking pick, there's a variety of options you can pick from.

Really bad movie, but that is what Netflix paid for, so they get what they get.