What astounds me most about this film is that I ever thought it was funny. Now, I can’t be too hard on myself as I was 13 when it came out and we all know 13 year olds are fucking stupid and have the worst taste. But when you compare it to other Sandler comedies from the same period like Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, and Little Nicky, they are all superior to Big Daddy in terms of being funny, amusing film to kill 90 minutes that I can still enjoy today. I think I laughed maybe 8 times throughout the entire runtime of this movie. Adam Sandler screaming WON’T SOMEBODY GET THIS KID A HAPPY MEAL!?!?! used to be funny. Now it’s just noise. This film is a lot of noise…sound and fury signifying how unfunny Adam Sandler is.
ITS FUNNY BECAUSE HES FOREIGN AND CANT SPEAKEE GOOD ENGLISH SO HES DUMB LOLLL!!!
-Adam Sandler
Before I rip into this film’s false saccharine exterior more, I do want to give it some props for one thing…spoilers incoming if you actually, for some reason, give a fuck about Big Daddy being spoiled. During the climax where Sandler is on trial for basically kidnapping the kid under false pretenses, his father, who hates him (rightfully), has a revelation after a cheesy Sandler speech about how he’ll do more good and learned to be more good, and his father gives an emphatic recommendation for his son to keep the kid and everyone hollers and claps. Most films would just end it there, give him the kid, and have a happy ever after ending. Instead the judge essentially BTFOs everyone, takes the kid, and charges Sandler. He’s saved by the kid’s real father, Jon Stewart, claiming the kid and dropping all charges….which is actually somewhat realistic. We’re left with a film where everything works out in a good way for everyone in a way that actually makes some sense. And the little falling action after the courtroom scene is the strongest part of the film, albeit it is unearned with the 80 minutes that precedes it.
Also the kid is pretty cute and is more believable than every other character, which distracts from just how awful the film actually is. He’s certainly better than that fuck from Episode 1.
The movie isn’t quite as mean spirited as typical Sandler fare, but it’s still pretty mean spirited. In typical Sandler fashion Big Daddy makes fun of gay people, fat people, foreign people, homeless people, poor people, women, old people…basically anyone who is different from Adam Sandler. This style of comedy has been covered extensively by RedLetterMedia and I’ll link those below, but it’s indicative not so much that Adam Sandler is hateful, but that he’s lazy.
Part two should be first in recommended
Starts at 13:40
Instead of writing clever jokes or devising humorous situations, he just makes fun of old men’s old balls, foreign guys who can’t read English, and women who work at Hooters while bettering themselves because that definitely deserves scorn. It’s quite a fascinating exercise to watch Sandler flicks and look for the hidden anger beneath so much of his humour that he covers up with ostensible heart and seemingly good intentions. Big Daddy seems self-aware since it’s about Sandler being a lazy, self-absorbed, angry, mean douchebag and him realizing his faults, but the fact Sandler has only doubled down on this humour in the past 20 years proves he hasn’t grown at all.
LOL you worked at Hooters 8 years ago so I hate you forever slut! Fuck you whorebag! LOLZ!!
- Sincerely, Adam Sandler
Sandler also has a habit of having his rage-filled, infantile man child characters be effectively saved by smart, headstrong female characters that have fulfilling careers. In Billy Madison it was a nurturing schoolteacher. In Happy Gilmore it was a PR woman for the PGA Tour. In Big Daddy it’s a lawyer. I am sure this trend is fairly consistent until the films where he’s already married in them. I have trouble believing any of these characters would find Adam Sandler’s characters charming or affable or wish to inhabit the same room with, let alone someone they would fall in love with. In fact, Adam Sandler seems like the sort of man they probably all once dated before smartening up.
Run, Chasing Amy, run!
On the flipside, most of these films also have a scene early on in the movie where Adam Sandler is dumped by a woman who is sick of carrying him and the rest of the film seems to be about shoving his growth in those girls faces…as if Sandler got dumped once by a girl he really liked before he made it and he’s never gotten over it and now makes films to rub his success in her face. In Big Daddy, they actually take the time to literally do just that.
HAHAHA!!!! You rightfully left me because I was irresponsible and going nowhere and now you work at Hooters while I am happy and successful with a family FUCK YOU DUMB WHORE!!!!
-Sincerely, Adam Sandler
The bottom line is that this film has not aged well. If you haven’t seen Big Daddy in 15 years and you remember liking it, don’t watch it again and hold onto that memory because it is a bad, bad movie. It’s not funny, tells a pretty crappy story (that somehow manages to have a decent ending), and basically offers nothing except boredom and frustration. When you compare Big Daddy to a similar themed film in terms of selfish, immature manchild with daddy issues having a life changing experience because of a kid, like 2002’s About a Boy¸ you really see how bankrupt this film because it lacks authentic heart, character, humour, and a human story. The frustrating part is the ending shows they could have maybe done it if they’d tried harder. A lot harder.
The most offensive part of this film is just how painfully unfunny it is. It’s been a day or so since I watched it and I’m struggling to recall the parts that were funny, and I mean actually funny, not me laughing at how bad it is. I guess Sandler covering things up with newspaper is still kind of funny. I guess? Maybe I didn’t laugh 8 times like I thought I did.
NOTE: The lasting take away from this film for me is that my stepdad, Steve, is one of the most qualified scuba instructors in North America, so we call him Scuba Steve because of Big Daddy. It’s as clever as this movie.
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