Little Nicky Review
by Chad Polenz (ChadPolenz AT aol DOT com)November 30th, 2000
Little Nicky
Adam Sandler's latest flick has him playing the son of the devil. Must.... resist.... obvious.... one-liner.
But seriously folks I'm starting to think Mr. Sandler must be the most powerful person in Hollywood because every celebrity on the planet is willing to appear in his movies no matter how bad they are. Technically, "Little Nicky" should be his worst movie to date because it is so unabashedly commercial and outrageous, but it's not.
Sandler's style of comedy is directly responsible for a lot of the humor we see on TV and in the movies today. It's the "lowest common dominator" philosophy multiplied by stupidity. He's crude and lowbrow but he's also using ideas most others aren't. He'll do pretty much anything for a laugh and he never expects you to take him seriously. That worked back in his debut starring vehicle "Billy Madison" and it still works here.
As I mentioned before, Sandler plays the son of the devil, Nicky. Actually, he's just one of the devil's three sons and he's the "good" one. A goofy guy with a speech impediment and a wacky face who doesn't really comprehend what it means to be part of the evilest family in existence. Harvey Keitel plays Satan who's trying to decide which of his sons will succeed him. But since he's the devil he of course chooses himself which irks the two really nasty sons Adrian and Cassius who flee Hell to set up camp on Earth. That screws up everything, the devil begins to "die" and Nicky is the only one capable of capturing his two mean brothers and making sure Hell stays where it belongs.
The plots to Sandler's movies aren't exactly the most intellectually stimulating are they? His prior box office blockbusters have kept the story "realistic" for the most part, but this is his first foray into something more supernatural and more of a fantasy. When you're making a movie about a regular human guy you're kind of limited as to who the supporting characters and story situations can be. When you're making a movie about the idiot son of the devil whose friends include a talking foul-mouthed bulldog, an ambiguously gay actor, two stoned-out headbangers, and a homely designer student - you can go a bit hog wild.
A lot of the film talks place in Hell and there's minor characters running all over the place, such as Rodney Dangerfield as the original Lucifer, a gatekeeper with breasts on his head and lots of demons and other monsters. Sandler's brand of comedy has been pretty lowbrow before, but since Satan himself is actually a major player in this story, the cruel, mean comedy is a bit more justified. Not that I condone the scenes of sodomizing Hitler with a pineapple, but the stuff that happens up above on Earth where Nicky must track down and battle his brothers is funny.
Take for example a scene in which Cassius has possessed the referee at a Harlem Globetrotters game. When he makes the players bash their heads on the table, and throws everyone out Nicky steps in and the two battle each other with their "magic powers." The audience just thinks it's part of the show even though the things they do are totally impossible. Another showdown occurs near the end where Nicky and Adrian actually get into a pillow fight ov er who the next leader of Hell will be. In between there's a lot of other stupid jokes such as Henry Winkler getting stung by a million bees and Nicky convincing Adrian's minions that bunnies are cute and Popeye's chicken is really delicious (not-so-subtle product placement has always been one of Sandler's most unique talents).
"Little Nicky" doesn't have the best screenplay in the world, in fact it's probably one of the most contrived to come along in a few years. However, I must admit most of the jokes pay off. Sandler and his crew tend to repeat themselves with jokes about transvestites, bathroom functions, bodily fluids, and outrageous cartoony characters that end up getting hurt a lot. Technically, this stuff isn't much different from a b-movie but what makes it work is that it's consistent, and so over-the-top you know there's no way it can be taken seriously. It's almost as if you're laughing AT the movie instead of at the individual jokes. But as long as you enjoy yourself then what's the problem?
GRADE: B
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