{"id":2142,"date":"2006-07-25T23:55:00","date_gmt":"2006-07-25T23:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/07\/adam-sandler-in-a-911-movie-and-its-good\/"},"modified":"2006-07-25T23:55:00","modified_gmt":"2006-07-25T23:55:00","slug":"adam-sandler-in-a-911-movie-and-its-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2006\/07\/adam-sandler-in-a-911-movie-and-its-good.html","title":{"rendered":"Adam Sandler? In a 9\/11 movie? And it’s good?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
I never thought this would happen, but I actually have a soft spot in my heart for Adam Sandler<\/a> these days.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly not that I like \u201cAdam Sandler movies\u201d, per se<\/i>. I do have fond memories of The Wedding Singer<\/a><\/i> (1998) and 50 First Dates<\/a><\/i> (2004; my comments<\/a>), and I suspect it\u2019s partly because Drew<\/a> Barrymore<\/a> somehow brings out the best in him. But most of his other star vehicles have been a chore to sit through, especially<\/i> when he takes a good premise and mucks it up, as he did with Anger Management<\/a><\/i> (2003) and this summer\u2019s Click<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Every now and then, though, Sandler has shown that he is capable of something better. Exhibit A is Punch-Drunk Love<\/a><\/i> (2002), which easily made my top ten list<\/a>, though it kind of works best if you are familiar with the \u201cpersona\u201d that Sandler has built up over the course of his other movies. Exhibit B might be his dramatic turn in Spanglish<\/a><\/i> (2004); the movie didn\u2019t do much for me, but Sandler\u2019s performance was admirable, perhaps even impressive.<\/p>\n

Now comes Exhibit C. Jeffrey Wells<\/a> reports that Sandler is starring in Mike Binder\u2019s Reign O\u2019er Me<\/a><\/i> as a man who lost his family in the 9\/11 attacks, and who shuts himself off from his emotions \u2026 until he meets an old pal played by Don Cheadle. Says Wells:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also mentioning Reign O\u2019er Me because Sandler is damned convincing as Charlie, and despite his having never gone into serious acting territory, his work is good enough here to warrant entry into the year-end derby. I\u2019m serious.<\/p>\n

Sandler has never tried to do much more than his patented Sandler shtick (Punch Drunk Love and maybe The Wedding Singer excepted). But his Reign performance is a trip off the reservation. And it all crescendos in a breakdown scene at the end of Act Two that nails it and makes the performance whole. Say what you will about Click and Little Nicky, but Sandler\u2019s Charlie is going to earn serious respect.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also talking about Reign O\u2019er Me because it\u2019s Binder\u2019s best film ever \u2014 it\u2019s at least two or three notches better than The Upside of Anger<\/a>, which I thought was a solid 8.5 with a couple of nicely full-bodied performances by Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know Jeffrey Wells well enough to know how well I trust his opinions, but I am now very interested in this movie.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I never thought this would happen, but I actually have a soft spot in my heart for Adam Sandler these days. It\u2019s certainly not that I like \u201cAdam Sandler movies\u201d, per se. I do have fond memories of The Wedding Singer (1998) and 50 First Dates (2004; my comments), and I suspect it\u2019s partly because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAdam Sandler? In a 9\/11 movie? 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