Review of The Ridiculous 6 (2015) by Justplainlucas — 12 Dec 2015

I feel compelled to write a review about Ridiculous 6 just to counter all the negative ones that people are writing lately. Adam Sandler has been getting routinely lambasted by people who just don't seem to understand that he's not going to change. His form of comedy is still aligned to his fans. In short, Adam Sandler will be Adam Sandler.

In a social climate where writers are too cautioned to tell any kind of stereotypical joke, Sandler comes in swinging with South Park tenacity. He may not be as witty as the Stone and Parker combination, but it hardly comes across as racist. It's too easy to call things racist today, and that word is being flung around too much lately that it's lost all meaning. The characters are diverse, and everyone gets it, including white people. You won't find many critics ever bringing that part up, either. The narrative is that this movie is "racist" towards Native Americans.

Now, this is far from the best Adam Sandler movie he's made, but it's also far, far from the worst he or his studio has made (Strange Wilderness receives that accolade from me). It's framed as a Western parody, but it flows like your average Sandler film. A huge cast peppered with Sandler regulars such as David Spade and Rob Schneider deliver silly jokes and slapstick bits. The humor tends to go a little past my threshold for crude humor at times (a donkey with explosive diarrhea for example) but also has some outrageously hilarious moments like a botched hanging of Taylor Lautner.

Speaking of Lautner, he honestly has stolen the spotlight of this film. He plays a slow-minded but innocent-spirited half brother (of which all six of the Ridiculous 6 are of relation) to Sandler and this is just a career defining moment for him. It's a goofball role that ranks right up there with other actors who've cut loose like Duane Johnson, Justin Timberlake and Brad Pitt. Honestly, the aforementioned botched hanging was one of the funniest scenes for me.

To be honest, though, there are two points constantly brought up in the negative reviews that I agree with. First point is that Sandler's acting is simply limp. The character he is trying to for perform just isn't very enthusiastic, It's not that it's designed to be that way; you can just tell he isn't putting any energy into it. It's not that bothersome to me, though, because the movie is put on the shoulders of its supporting cast., which again, is quite large. The second point is that it's about 30 minutes too long. There are many skits, including a scene with John Turturro and the origin of baseball, that don't really serve the story's progression. As a result, some scenes lose a bit of comedic impact because they feel like filler.

If you don't like Adam Sandler, you're obviously not going to enjoy this movie. Good, because it's not made for you. Instead, this is a pure Sandler film through and through and if you've been a long time Sandler fan, there's little chance you're going to be disappointed by it. If you're one of those Sandler fans that loved his older work and wished he could return to that era, your only option is to give it a try. Good news if you're already a Netflix subscriber: it won't cost you a cent more to watch it. Give it a shot.