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You fell in love with him over movies like “The Wedding Singer,” “Big Daddy” and “The Waterboy.” But lately, Adam Sandler seems more like your friend’s awkward dad trying desperately to be “hip.”
No one is arguing that Sandler has the acting skills of a clown who knows his angles – and knows how to tickle viewers’ funny bones. In a video titled, “Silly Funny Guy,” a colleague breaks down Sandler’s appeal in a few simple sentences like: “There are no boundaries; he just is fun.” and “Adam Sandler is a comic actor; he knows that and he loves that.”
Lately, though, the comedic celebrity hasn’t been causing the same endless laughter – or been receiving the same accolades for his acting skills. As the Center for Creative Media points out, Sandler’s top rated film, “Happy Gilmore,” received an 80 percent viewer rating and 60 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Compare that to his recent movie, “Grown Ups 2,” which boasts a 54 percent viewer and 7 percent critic rating. Wah, wah, wah.
What happened to Adam Sandler’s entertainment career? Let’s take a trip down (movie) memory lane to find out – with some help from Metracritic and The Come Back websites!
1990
Adam Sandler reveals his comedic super powers on SNL with skits like “Opera Man,” “Cajan Man” and the dark “Zagat’s Restaurant” sketch.
1993
He releases “They’re All Going to Laugh at You!,” his first comedy album. Not only was it certified double platinum, but the album was also nominated for a Grammy.
1995-1996
Sandler leaves “SNL” and co-writes and stars in the movies, “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore.” Each film respectively earned $12.1 and $15.3 million on opening weekend and are still some of his most popular movies to date.
1996
Sandler stars in “Bulletproof.” Despite the movie’s name, it unfortunately didn’t seem impenetrable against disappointing critic reviews.
1998
Sandler redeems himself with “The Wedding Singer.” Not only did entertainment critics love it, but so did viewers.
1998-1999
He works with directors Frank Coraci (from “The Wedding Singer”) and Dennis Dugan (from “Happy Gilmore”) for the respective films, “The Waterboy” and “Big Daddy.” Each movie earned around $65 million on opening weekend, the highest earnings by far compared to Sandler’s other movies.
1999-2002
Sandler starts his own film company called Happy Madison Productions and produces movies like “Little Nicky” and “Deeds.” While both movies brought in a decent amount of money (with Mr. Deeds earning $50 million on opening weekend), critics weren’t fans.
2002
Sandler earns his first Golden Globe nomination for his role in the movie, “Punch Drunk Love.” Critics praised Sandler’s acting skills, especially the “darkness, obsession and power” he conveyed through his character. Robert Ebert even asks, “He can’t go on making those moronic comedies forever, can he?” (SPOILER: He does – though some would argue that several of these comedies – like “You Don’t Mess with Zohan” and “That’s My Boy” are more entertaining than moronic.)
2002-2006
Sandler releases a string of movies from “50 First Dates” to “The Longest Yard.” While many consider these to be some of the best movies from Happy Madison Productions, they don’t consider them 100% winners either.
2007
Sandler shows off the acting skills that America initially fell in love with – mixing his traditional humor with a hint of drama – in Mike Binder’s 9/11 dramedy “Reign Over Me.” Though it only earned $8.6 million opening weekend, it boasts one of the highest scores from Metacritic out of all of Sandler’s movies. Matt Patches from Thrillist.com even describes this movie as “some of Sandler’s best work” … though he mellows that compliment with a critique on the unrealistic comeback of the character Sandler played.
2007-2008
Sandler releases some of his worst movies according to Metacritic: “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and “Bedtime Stories.”
2010
Sandler stars in “Grown Ups,” which features cameos from famous celebrity friends. It was popular enough to spawn a sequel in 2013.
2011
In 2011, Sandler plays the roles of both twin characters in the film, “Jack and Jill,” which later made history by receiving every award at The Golden Rasberry Awards (also known as a worst movie ceremony).
2013-2014
Sandler releases “Grown Ups 2” and “Blended” – neither of which impressed any critics. Matt Patches writes that the real mind behind Sandler’s films seems to be his travel agent, who books his vacations before scripts are even finalized.
2015
He films and releases “The Ridiculous Six” … but offends Native American actors so much, they walked off the set.
2016
Sandler’s latest movie, “The Do Over,” goes live on Netflix. Although some critics expressed surprise at seeing promise in “The Do Over” trailer, it’s another flop according to Rotten Tomatoes. The film received a 6 percent critic rating and a 45 percent viewer rating.
The truth is, Sandler has shown his acting chops countless times: just think back to entertaining movies like “The Wedding Singer” (1998), “Billy Madison” (1995) and even more recent work like “Funny People” (2009). There are plenty of theories on why Adam Sandler has lost some of his comedic spark. Some claim that the celeb no longer cares about the quality of his movies; others blame his aging (which restricts his possible movie roles) or the fact that comedic movies, and what viewers want from them, have changed. Regardless of the reason, it seems that Sandler, his movies and his acting has changed. Whether they’ve changed for the better or worse is for his fans to decide.
