Big Daddy Review
by "Davis Monroe" (davismonroe AT hotmail DOT com)June 19th, 1999
“Big Daddy”
“The Wedding Singer” showed the world that Adam Sandler wasn’t just yelling and poo jokes. He gave a delicate performance and made the romantic comedy his best work to date. You could easily tell growth was occurring, and the film responded by being extremely popular when nothing much was expected from it. “The Waterboy” was made during Sandler’s “Wedding” success, thus not able to build on that growth as an actor. “Big Daddy” has the ability to see that a less silly Sandler can still achieve serious coin. While no “Truman Show”, this new film plays up the emotions with the hope of showing off some dramatic chops that Sandler might possess. The result is a perpetually funny film that has the brains not to ruin the wacky stuff with superfluous tears. Reuniting with his “Happy Gilmore” director Dennis Dugan (who has a great cameo as the man who wishes he answered the front door on Halloween), Sandler stars as Sonny Koufax, a slacker who cannot seem to get his act together. In an attempt to impress his girlfriend (Kristy Swanson), Sonny adopts a child that was mistakenly dropped off at his front door. The two soon develop a affinity and become a very unique father and son combination.
The storycuse for Sandler and co-screenwriter Tim Herlihy to shower the audience with gags involving typical child-rearing frustrations. Peeing in the bed, disobedience, first day of school, and a very funny bit involving shopping for groceries are all touched on. Intermixed with the usual oddball humor that I love about Sandler-Herlihy screenplays are nice quiet moments encompassing Sonny’s romance with a lawyer played by Joey Lauren Adams. It is this segment of the movie that Sandler shows off the lovable charm that oozed out of the flawless “Wedding Singer”. Without Drew Barrymore around, the romantic moments in “Big Daddy” seems more of a screenplay conceit that a real subplot. Still, they are funny and touching in a roundabout way.
Now I say this with a straight face: Sandler has yet to really write and headline a bad film. Movies like “Happy Gilmore” and “Billy Madison” get beat up all the time over their adolescent jokes. I for one praise the comedian for remaining funny just as the box office stakes are rising. “Big Daddy” is packed with grand jokes and a healthy sense of the odd that made the previous pics so endearing. Writer Herlihy provides the exquisite one-liners and Director Dugan keeps the visual gags fast and proficient. The three are an impregnable team that I hope can continue this run for another film.
When it comes to the dramatic moments, “Big Daddy”
doesn’t really falter, it just stumbles a bit. It comes off as a bit fake to see Adam Sandler trying to muster tears over his beloved child. I don’t suggest that Sandler is incapable of dramatic work, but this film forces it a bit. Standing back and letting the drama lead the way might have been a better option. There’s an audience to please out there, so the baby steps on display here might the right way to do this. In ten years, when “Adam Sandler in ‘Macbeth’” opens, I’ll be first in line, assured that Sandler can be the actor that I suspect he wants to be. “Big Daddy” shouldn’t frustrate anyone looking for
big laughs. This streak that Sandler is on has been marvelous, one film after another just pure fun. As long as he continues to write his own material, as long as the jokes remain ambiguous and risky, I’ll go to the ends of the Earth defending him as a true original. A man who’s films should not be dismissed so quickly.
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