Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Mr. Beaks has already seen this one, and I’ll be taking a look at it some time this week. I’m hearing mixed to good reactions, and the trailer stinks of box-office whenever I see it with a crowded theater. Still, high-concept comedies live and die based on their execution. Having a great idea or a great cast is not enough. Let’s see if our first scooper thought it lived up to its potential:
Hi Harry,
My college scored advanced tickets to this ,movie for the night of April 2nd at the Malco Majestic in Memphis, second time they’ve done that after Phone Booth, here's to more of the same. This'll be short and spoiler free. Lets start off with the comment that, well, I've never really liked Adam Sandler, sorry, but the first movie I saw him in was Waterboy and I hated that voice, which he insists on using in EVERY DAMN MOVIE! Anyway, I love Jack Napier, er Nicholson, and they were both great in this movie, God it cracked me up, it was refreshingly different from all the hip teen romantic comedies and bevy of spoofs that have have been shoved down our throats. Sandler was actually a likeable character, and the events that unfold around him are just absolutely hilarious, the gags aren't hard and fast, but rather periodic episodes of situational comedy (hardly ever physical..except the Monk) that lead up to a gutbusting climax. It was great to hear Jack give that stifled little giggle he made so famous in Batman. From the previews I'm sure youve guessed he's a little of kelter... just a little.
The only problem I had was with the ending, which felt like it solved itself too easily, it was a bit like the feeling I got with the ending of Signs, the story up to that point was pure brilliance, and then all of a sudden, it was like they ran out of ideas, couldn't think of anything better, and so just wrapped it up in the most typical by the book fashion they could think of, never mind that it was totally against the spirit of the rest of the movie... also, I didnt really dig the cameos, dunno why but they seemed like a cheap marketing gimmick, well, hopefully I shall be reviewing many more in the coming months till the summer holls, I think it's Revolution Studios that gives us the tickets, but I'm not sure yet. If you use this, call me Wildebeste....PS, if anyone in the UK can get me a US region DVD of Robin of Sherwood, I will love you long time.
Thanks, man. Freaks me out that you’re in college, based on your typing skills, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that you were in a hurry.
Hi Harry,
Been reading your website quite a bit lately and I finally have some information not seen on your site. I was recently at a screening of the new Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson flick and I have to say that I loved it. I have been watching a lot of really bad films roll my way lately
and it was fun to just watch this inane idiotic film. The premise has more holes than my grandmothers swiss cheese and the set ups are, well, laughable, but I just had so much fun watching Sandler get in trouble and Nicholson inflicting it upon him.
The idea is that Sandler plays this repressed guy, who is dating Marisa Tomei mind you, that works at a pet supplies company as an executive assistant to a bastard of a boss who takes credit for his work. One day Sandler gets on a plane and everyone starts to accuse him of being angry and he gets in a bit of a scuffle which causes him to go to court and get sentenced to anger management with, you guessed it, Jack Nicholson. Let the hilarity ensue. In his first meeting we meet Luis Guzman as an angry homosexual with a crazy sort of half goattee thing, and John Torturro as Grenada vet who really likes hurting people. Then this and that happens and everyone is happy in the end.
This movie is totally marketed towards Adam Sandler fans wanting to watch him get in to trouble, and that is me in a nutshell. If you didn't like his other flicks, don't go see this. But, for we, the enlightened, the John C. Reilly bit where he is a buddhist monk that used to bully Sandler as a kid, I was rolling in aisles. If I were asked point blank about this film again, I would simply give a wide toothy grin.
If this gets posted, I would like to be known as EL GUAPO
I hear that you have a plethora of pinatas, El Guapo. That must be nice. Here’s another reaction...
Hey, Harry. Caught a sneak of Anger Management tonight. Don’t have a lot of time for a long-winded review, but here’s what I thought:
It kicks off way too early without much introduction at all other than a quick flashback that is as-yet pointless. After quickly establishing Sandler’s character as being shy and none too confident, we are pushed headlong into the story of him being put into anger management therapy. We also meet Nicholson pretty damn early (those clips of Sandler on the plane in the trailer omit the fact that Nicholson is right there beside him).
However, from here on is where we leave the negative behind and plunge full steam into the positive. In a nutshell, this is Sandler’s funniest movie. Every quip between he and Nicholson is dead on. It almost seems improvised. Nicholson is at the top of his comedic game here making our sides hurt just from an expression and making us cough up a lung in laughter when he actually opens his mouth.
Sandler is probably so funny here because he’s making a real attempt at playing the straight. He’s not the goofy-ass moron we know from The Waterboy and Billy Madison just to name a few. His attempt at this in Mr. Deeds didn’t work just because the script there sucked.
Now I know I’m gonna get ragged on quite a bit for giving a positive Adam Sandler review, but I base my reviews on film solely on whether or not I enjoyed myself. I had an awesome time with this movie.
To name just a few highlighted scenes without giving much away, I’ll just play word association. You can guess which scenes I’m referring to when you see the movie. Here it goes:
Fat Cat
Buddhists
Woody Harrelson
Rudy Guiliani (“5-second Frencher”)
There you go. Hopefully that’ll entice you enough to go see it. The above mentioned are the absolute best scenes in the movie, and the best part it, none of them are in the previews. Well, the Buddhist scene is in the preview, but it doesn’t give enough away to ruin it. Also major kudos to whoever came up with the Kurt Fuller/Col. Klink reference. If you’ve seen Auto Focus, you’ll definitely get it.
So that’s it. Rail me if you will (I’m sure I’ve read worse about Harry and Moriarty in the threads), but I had a great time watching this movie. Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler play off each other incredibly. Both are hilarious. No one plays a psycho like Nicholson, and hopefully Sandler will play it straight from here on out. Is it Nicholson’s best movie? Not at all. Is it Sandler’s? Quite possibly.
... and another...
Heya Harry,
I scored a pass to a sneak preview of Anger Management last night in Nashville. Most of the time, these free sneak previews are packed to the point of people having to stand against the walls, but this one was oddly enough, 3/4 full. That didn't change the fact that this movie is the most bizarre and demented Sandler comedy ever. Punch Drunk Love does not count as a Sandler comedy and by demented, I mean the humor - not special effects or wacky storyline a la Little Nicky. On to the review:
David Buznick is a soft-spoken guy who gets walked on by everyone. This character trait has stuck with him ever since he was in elementary school. He has such awful self-esteem, though his awkward cuteness seems to have won the heart of his girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei). It doesn't help Dave's self-esteem knowing that Linda still hangs out with her old, well-endowed university buddy Andrew and that his luck has wrongly landed him in an anger management course with the unconventional Dr. Buddy Reydell (Nicholson).
Accidents do happen, landing Dave in court again and again, causing him to either be sentenced to a year in prison or spend a month, 24/7 with the good doctor. Wacky antics ensue involving Dave to confront people from his past, mental Red Sox fans (Dave is quite the Yankee fan), his boss, and the best use of a Jane's Addiction song ever. Reydell has other plans in mind, however, once he meets the beautiful and charming Linda. Oh no! What happens?! I'm no spoiler boy.
This is a remarkable leap for Sandler comedies. His attitude and character is natural, much like in Punch Drunk Love, no funny voices or faces the whole time. He's your average guy who just wants things to go smoothly. Nicholson is insanely hilarious. When he laughs in the first scene, you can't help but to remember the psychotic antics of The Joker. Some scenes look like Jack wants to conjure up his Witches of Eastwick role as the Devil, only with the knob up to 11. The two have excellent chemistry together and it's this fact that will get me back to the theatre to see it again when it opens up everywhere. Marisa Tomei is ravishing as usual. Then come the co-stars: John Turturo comes close to stealing scenes from Sandler as he plays one of Dave's "anger allies". Luis Guzman, another counseling buddy, plays his part as a flamboyant Latino. (And the closest thing to a spoiler I'm giving you is........) Woody
Harrelson will never look the same to me again. Great cast, great chemistry, hilarious script.
This is the middle ground, folks. If the cliche Sandler movies were too stupid and immature for you, or if Punch Drunk Love went over your head, Anger Management is here to give you some counseling.
cheers,
LoFi Suicide
Well, sounds like people are having a lot of fun with this one. I hope I can wrangle a review out of Mr. Beaks at some point this week, but for now, thanks to all of you who wrote in...
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