"BIG DADDY"
You don't need to be a film geek to know that the whole concept of a kid being reluctantly taken in by a guy who doesn't seem ready for parenthood is nothing new to movies. Charlie Chaplin did it first with his feature film debut, "The Kid." Since then, it's been done lotsa times. Too many to list, actually. Personally, I think that of the ones I've seen, "The Kid" is the best. "Big Daddy" is not even close to "The Kid," and it certainly isn't original, but it IS entertaining.
Adam Sandler has a cast of familiar faces for just about every supporting role. His roommate is played by funnyman Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." His love interest is Joey Lauren Adams, the main girl from Kevin Smith's brilliant (well, except for the ending) "Chasing Amy." There's also Josh Mostel (a character actor who has been everywhere, but he's best known for being the fatter of the two ice cream brothers in "City Slickers"), Leslie Mann (she was opposite Brendan Fraser in "George of the Jungle"), Rob Schneider (the robmeister, rob-a-roni, the rob man, robster lobster gobster...), Kristy Swanson (before the TV show, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a movie with Kristy Swanson as the title character), and making another appearance in an Adam Sandler movie, Steve Buscemi. As for the kid, he's actually played by two people... twins, actually. Cole and Dylan Sprouse, who were in the TV series "Grace Under Fire," play Adam Sandler's new son. All of the the supporting actors and actresses did great.
"Big Daddy" was written by Scott Franks (his feature film debut), Tim Herlihy, and Adam Sandler. Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler have written almost all of the Sandler movies together ("Bulletproof" was written by neither of them), and they're obviously a team that works. The director was Dennis Dugan, who has directed lotsa TV shows and also directed Sandler in "Happy Gilmore."
It's been said that this is Adam Sandler's most mature movie to date. I'd probably hafta disagree. He was much more mature in "The Wedding Singer." But this is still a movie I liked a lot. Well, except for one scene that was so pathetic, I almost puked. It's a scene that I don't wanna give away, but I'll just say it's set in a courtroom. Lame lame lame!!!! UGH!!! AWFUL!!!
Adam Sandler movies have hit the mainstream, and they're really
popular. The reasons are evident in "Big Daddy." He's not a great
actor, his character is a pain in the ass, and the writing is very
simple, but at the same time, it's funny, entertaining, and Adam
Sandler has a certain charm. I'm warning you, that scene in the
courtroom is an abomination, but "Big Daddy" is a fun movie despite
that.
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