Potential spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.
ADAM SANDLER
Films: Punch-Drunk Love, Uncut Gems, Hustle
Adam Sandler, in a lot of ways, reminds me of Jim Carrey. That’s why I am placing my entries back-to-back. While Carrey is a few years older, both came to fame in the early to mid-nineties, and both eventually achieved movie stardom. They both have loud, bombastic personalities, and the majority of their filmography could be classified as “goofy” comedy. I believe that both men are capable of giving fine performances when they actually try. In Sandler’s case, I can’t exactly blame him. If Netflix paid me millions upon millions of dollars to screw around with my friends on camera and muddle through a half-baked story, I would take it too. Hell, I’m convinced that the only reason Rob Schneider has a career is because Sandler is kind enough to include him in whatever he’s working on. That’s a good friend. I digress. Finally, I believe that both Sandler and Carrey have a “trifecta,” three distinct films that show off their acting abilities. The first one of these is Punch-Drunk Love.
To talk about Punch-Drunk Love is to talk about writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. Paul Thomas Anderson is undoubtedly one of the most singular auteurs of the last thirty years. Each of his films has not only its own story but also its distinct aesthetic. Much like Wes Anderson (no relation), you can tell you’re watching a P.T. Anderson film from the first frame. His vision is truly unique. In 1999, following the completion of his California masterpiece, Magnolia, the 29-year-old wunderkind made an offhand remark at a press conference that made everyone snicker. He told them that the two actors he wanted to work with next were Adam Sandler and Daniel Day-Lewis. Though the press laughed it off, he remained true to his word. The leads of his next two films were, in fact, Sandler and Day-Lewis (Anderson would work with him on both There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread). To be fair, Anderson was coming off of two Academy Award nominations for his modern epics, Boogie Nights and Magnolia, while Sandler was coming off of Big Daddy. But once again, Anderson defied expectations and delivered not only an intimate love story but a showcase for Sandler’s acting chops.
In the film, Sandler plays Barry Egan, a socially anxious salesman whose life is dominated by his seven overbearing sisters. To appease his favorite sister, Barry agrees to go out with her friend, Lena (Emily Watson), and the two hit it off. However, before agreeing to the date, Barry calls a sex line to cope with his loneliness. The operator tries to extort money from him, and when he eventually refuses, they send four goons after him. This all complicates his budding relationship with Lena. That’s all I’ll say about the plot. I don’t want to give away the twists and turns, which I find to be incredibly unique for a rom-com.
Barry is in many ways, the antithesis of the characters he played prior. Sandler’s characters are typically loud and expressive, whereas Barry is quiet, soft-spoken, and more reserved. However, that’s not to say there aren’t similarities to previous characters either. When Barry gets angry or flustered, he displays the same explosive fits that Happy Gilmore has throughout that movie. As a viewer, you can’t help but feel sorry for Barry, at least at first. His quiet and passive nature leads others to step all over him. This is in juxtaposition to the domineering and chaotic energy his sisters bring. His sisters could be described as downright mean, often teasing him about his sexuality, and then blaming him when he finally explodes. As somebody with social anxiety myself, I can’t help but empathize and relate to Barry. You can see the pain in his lonely eyes and on his first date with Lena, the panic in his face. Anxiety is not one size fits all and it’s not something that everyone understands. It can often leave you feeling isolated or alone. When you do find someone who understands you, much like how he found Lena, it can change your life. To watch Barry’s transformation into a self-confident and brave individual is something to behold. It’s a masterclass of acting from Sandler.
Sandler’s performance was widely praised, earning him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Despite stunning critics, he soon went back to making more of the same mediocre movies (Click, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard) and some pretty bad ones (Jack and Jill, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry). Throughout the years, he took on a few more serious roles in Reign Over Me, Funny People, and The Meyerowitz Stories, but it would take until 2019 before he made a notable dramatic return with Uncut Gems.
Just as Punch-Drunk Love was Anderson’s picture, Uncut Gems belongs to writer/directors Josh and Benny Safdie. The film has a unique style, both in its visuals and its writing. The film follows Howard Ratner (Sandler), a gambling addict in New York’s jewelry district, who will go to any lengths to retrieve a gem he purchased to help pay off his debts. Throughout his odyssey, Howard is forced to evaluate many different relationships in his life. These include his estranged wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel), his mistress, Julia (Julia Fox), his highly religious family, his bookies, and strangely enough, R&B singer, The Weeknd. Many people weren’t sure what to expect when the up-and-coming directors of Good Time cast Sandler in their next movie. Apparently, they had been working on the script as early as 2009 with Sandler in mind. What came out of the collaboration is a modern classic.
I’m going to say something that I hope makes sense. I admire the film, but I have no desire to watch it again. To me, the film felt like a two-hour and fifteen-minute panic attack. This is due primarily to the intricate and unpredictable script, as well as Sandler’s effective performance. I commend Sandler for playing against type. Similar to Punch-Drunk, the directors showed us a side of Sandler the audience had never seen before. He shows off quite a range of emotions, some of which feel contradictory. Howard is at once, depressed, yet optimistic about his prospects of winning. Howard is very much pathetic. He’s in a mess of his own making, yet you can’t help but feel sorry for him as his world crumbles. Addiction is a disease, and he is deep in the throws of it.
It wouldn’t be inappropriate to say that Sandler was a revelation. In his performance, he dismembered the “Adam Sandler” persona. Whereas Punch-Drunk was still a comedy at heart, granted one with more heart, Gems is a true drama. Howard might try to find levity in his situation, but his struggles are no laughing matter. Howard makes bad decisions after bad decisions, ultimately leading to a shocking conclusion. I think this film is a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship between great filmmaking and a great performance. When the film was released, Sandler’s performance was widely praised. There were even talks of a possible Oscar nomination, though this never came to fruition. This was the year Joaquin Phoenix took home the gold statue for Joker. This, like my entire blog, is just my opinion, but I think he should have been nominated. Giving strong performances alongside Phoenix were Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Adam Driver (Marriage Story). Also nominated were Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). Can you name anyone who saw those films, let alone remember them four years and a global pandemic later? I think I’ve made my point. At least Sandler didn’t go home empty-handed. He did win the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, so that’s something.
The last film I will talk about is 2022’s Hustle. It caught me off guard the first time I saw it. Maybe because it was a Netflix release instead of a theatrical one or the fact that it was released months before award season fare in June, that it wasn’t even on my radar. The fact that I wasn’t expecting a film this good, made it all the more of a nice surprise for me. But, I don’t think you can blame me for expecting a lemon. Sandler signed a production deal with Netflix in 2015, meaning that except for Gems (he was not a producer), all of his films went straight to the streaming service. To say the films produced were critical gems would be a straight-up lie. Titles released during that period included The Ridiculous Six, Sandy Wexler, The Do-Over, The Week Of, and Hubie Halloween. Not exactly home runs. It would be an understatement to say that Hustle is far and away the best of these Netflix films.
In a nutshell, the best way I can describe the film is “Jerry Maguire meets A Star is Born meets the NBA.” Sandler plays Stanley Sugerman, a former basketball player and current disillusioned scout for the Philadelphia 76ers longing for a job on the bench. What seems like a sure thing is thrown into jeopardy when the owner (Robert Duvall) dies and his brash son, Vin (Ben Foster), takes the helm. Vin tells Stan that if he can find the next great player, he will become the assistant coach. Stan’s travels take him to Spain, where he discovers Bo Cruz, an athletic young man who works construction by day and tears up the court at night. Stan quickly earns Bo’s trust (as well as Bo’s young daughter and his mother) and takes him back to America. When the 76ers reject Bo, Stanley puts his career on the line, making it his mission to get him ready for the NBA combine.
Stan falls somewhere on the spectrum between Barry and Howard. He’s more confident than Barry, yet has that same flicker of sadness in his eyes. He’s not as compulsive as Howard, yet he has just as much confidence. Sandler’s work in Hustle is not as quiet as Punch-Drunk but not as loud as Gems. However, that doesn’t make it any less effective. Sandler encompasses the loneliness of a man constantly on the road, away from his family. His eyes convey the sadness and bitterness of a man who’s being cast out of an industry he’s devoted his life to. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that Stan is living vicariously through Bo. It’s almost as if getting Bo drafted in the NBA will redeem Stan for missing his chance to play. It’s even more devastating when Stan finally reveals the cause of the accident that forced him to miss out on the NBA. It’s a truly great performance from Sandler.
Whereas Punch-Drunk and Gems were very much products of the auteurs behind the camera, Hustle doesn’t feel that way. The film doesn’t break any new ground, but it doesn’t have to. It’s a compelling enough story, but Sandler’s performance elevates the film as a whole. Probably due to the summer release and lack of awards campaigning, Sandler received very few awards notices. However, in a surprising move, Sandler was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role, the only one of his career. Unlike Jim Carrey, the fact that two-thirds of these films mentioned were released in the last five years, I have hope that Sandler will continue to shine in roles that test his abilities as an actor.
Check this out: Uncut Gems – Exclusive Movie Clip – That’s the Opal (2019) | Movieclips Coming Soon