Adam Sandler returns to Hawaii, where his characters went on “50 First Dates” and fell into “Punch Drunk Love,” for a peculiarly bad extrusion of his brand. Here he plays Danny, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who calls breasts “fun bags.” In 1988 he fled his wedding on Long Island, went to a bar wearing his ring, got lucky that night and got more luck ever after. But when he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and wants to marry for real, his “fake wife” ploy backfires. Palmer insists on meeting his supposedly soon-to-be-ex and their two kids. Danny recruits his divorced office manager Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) and her son and daughter to fake out Palmer. Going through the motions leads to real emotions. Sandler and Aniston work well in several scenes, but the screenplay by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling is a mess badly directed by Dennis Dugan (“Grown Ups” and four other Sandler comedies). The source is the 1965 Broadway play “Cactus Flower” that had a ten-month run at the Blackstone Theatre in 1968. Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman played the leads in the 1969 film version. Warning: the score is overloaded with samplings of Sting. With Kevin Nealon, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson, Dave Matthews, Bailee Madison, Griffin Gluck. 116m. (Bill Stamets)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
Adam Sandler returns to Hawaii, where his characters went on “50 First Dates” and fell into “Punch Drunk Love,” for a peculiarly bad extrusion of his brand. Here he plays Danny, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who calls breasts “fun bags.” In 1988 he fled his wedding on Long Island, went to a bar wearing his ring, got lucky that night and got more luck ever after. But when he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker) and wants to marry for real, his “fake wife” ploy backfires. Palmer insists on meeting his supposedly soon-to-be-ex and their two kids. Danny recruits his divorced office manager Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) and her son and daughter to fake out Palmer. Going through the motions leads to real emotions. Sandler and Aniston work well in several scenes, but the screenplay by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling is a mess badly directed by Dennis Dugan (“Grown Ups” and four other Sandler comedies). The source is the 1965 Broadway play “Cactus Flower” that had a ten-month run at the Blackstone Theatre in 1968. Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman played the leads in the 1969 film version. Warning: the score is overloaded with samplings of Sting. With Kevin Nealon, Nicole Kidman, Nick Swardson, Dave Matthews, Bailee Madison, Griffin Gluck. 116m. (Bill Stamets)
