If Adam Sandler Is Going To Keep Making Movies For Netflix, I'm Going To Keep Watching
Variety – Adam Sandler, the A-list movie star who cleaned up at the ’90s box office with comedic hits such as “The Waterboy” and “Big Daddy,” is sticking with Netflix. The streaming network announced on Friday that it will be financing and producing four more features with Sandler, which will be released exclusively in homes.
“Love working with Netflix and collaborating with them,” Sandler said in a statement. “I love how passionate they are about making movies and getting them out there for the whole world to see. They’ve made me feel like family and I can’t thank them enough for their support.” In 2014, Netflix made a big play when it signed Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions to a four-movie deal. Netflix, which doesn’t disclose viewership figures, has said that Sandler’s first two comedies, “The Ridiculous 6” and “The Do-Over,” have become the most-watched original films to launch on the service. His next movie, “Sandy Wexler,” will debut April 14 on Netflix.
I feel like a lot of people are going to disagree with me here but hear me out before you start trashing Sandler. Because the man is a genius and somebody who we should all aspire to be like. Look at his career and where it has taken him today. The guy was huge in the 90s and early 2000s. And since then he has been able to coast for the rest of his life. He had a huge string of success with Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison and Big Daddy and so on and so on. And what did he do with that success? Did it make him continue to work harder to achieve even more success? Hell no. It made him realize that all he had to do was make a few average-to-below-average movies every now and then to keep catching a paycheck and go on auto pilot mode for the rest of life. That right there, folks, is the American dream.
Sure, I’d love it if Adam Sandler could come out and make another Little Nicky or another Mr. Deeds or another Waterboy. But that takes too much work. That takes serious time and commitment to create masterpieces like that. Why work extremely hard for one movie when you can bullshit your way through 4 movies and get paid out the ass by Netflix? I’m fully aware that “The Ridiculous 6″ is a 1/10 if we are grading it on the same scale as Billy Madison. And maybe “Sandy Wexler” looks like it will be a 0.5.
But they’re still better than “Jack & Jill” and they’re better than “Spanglish” and they’re better than “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan”. And here’s the best thing about these movies–they’re on Netflix. Adam Sandler could be a dick and keep going through Hollywood to make his new shitty movies. But he’s a man of the people and he’s putting them on Netflix. A streaming service that you’re already paying for anyway. And if you’re not paying for it, then your parents are paying for it or your siblings are paying for it or your ex is paying for it. Either way, everybody either has a Netflix account or a password that isn’t technically theirs but they still use it every day. So these movies don’t cost you anything extra. Instead, you have another stupid comedy to watch on Sunday mornings when you’re too hungover to function and your brain feels like a bowl of soup.
I’m not going to get up here and pretend that I’m somebody who I am clearly not. I’m not the pinnacle of culture. I’m not going to judge anybody based on how many Oscar nominated films they’ve seen this year and their detailed analysis on said motion pictures. I’m a simple man. I like to put ketchup on my french fries. And on Sunday mornings when my brain is applesauce, I like to watch stupid comedies until I feel like I’m able to stand up and get out of bed without getting dizzy. Adam Sandler saw a hole in the market for such movies and is filling it. Adam Sandler and Jack Black. Curing hangovers since, I don’t know, the past 15 years or so. (Year One and Pick Of Destiny are both A+ quality hangover movies).