Adam Sandler’s humor has always been on the juvenile side, which can either draw people in or turn them off.
Sometimes it’s cringe-worthy — like when he puts on that particular high, whiny voice for comedic effect — but essentially it’s harmless. Unless you count his role as the female half of twins in 2011’s “Jack and Jill,” which was embarrassing for both Sandler and moviegoers who paid to see it. For his work in writing, producing and directing that banal flop, Sandler was rewarded with a dozen nominations for the Golden Raspberry Awards, which pan the worst work of a given year.
“Netflix Presents: Sandy Wexler’s Here Comes the Funny Tour”
Adam Sandler, David Spade and Rob Schneider:
Where: Blaisdell Arena
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $52.50- $135
Info: Ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000
Note: Also appearing 7 and 9:30 p.m. today, Maui Arts & Cultural Center; $35-$125, mauiarts.org or 808-242-7469
His die-hard fans don’t necessarily head to the movie theaters expecting high-art movies from the affable actor and comedian. But his fans might be hard-pressed to find him in cineplexes lately, as Sandler has turned to the streaming video service Netflix to directly release his films.
His last movie in theaters was 2015’s “Pixels,” starring Kevin James as the president of the United States and Sandler as the man who is called upon to save Earth from an alien invasion. The movie came and went in the U.S., earning only $78 million after costing $88 million to make.
Sandler also signed a four-movie deal in 2015 with Netflix. The development deal spawned the spaghetti-Western “The Ridiculous 6” that same year, co-starring him and several chums such as Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Kattan and Norm MacDonald, all of whom worked with him on the TV skit show “Saturday Night Live” back in the day.
But while the Netflix multiple-movie deal was noteworthy, “The Ridiculous 6” was rather forgettable, despite a talented roster that also featured Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Jorge Garcia, Steven Zahn and Luke Wilson. A second movie was released on Netflix in 2016 called “The Do-Over,” and critics were quickly done with it. Both movies ranked low with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not so with Netflix viewers, though: “The two Adam Sandler movies premiered at No. 1 in every single territory of Netflix around the world,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. Sandler is one of the few actors whose films consistently rank among the most viewed by subscribers, Netflix said at the time of the deal.
SANDLER IS partnering with Netflix to promote their upcoming movie on his comedy tour, with the tongue-twisting title of “Netflix Presents: Sandy Wexler’s Here Comes the Funny Tour.” “Sandy Wexler,” a film Sandler co-wrote, is scheduled for release April 14. Sandler plays Wexler, a talent agent with some offbeat clients.
Spade and Schneider, both good friends of his, are on the comedy bill with him. Nick Swardson of “Reno 911” also joins them for show dates, though not in Hawaii. Spade, Schneider and Swardson are all in the cast of “Sandy Wexler,” along with Jennifer Hudson, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien and Penn Jillette.
The Honolulu stop for Sandler’s comedy show takes place on Sunday.
CRITICS HAVE LOVED Sandler at various times. This is a guy who has been nominated for two Emmys and a Golden Globe award over the course of his career. In fact, he has been nominated for more than 80 awards, winning more than 30 of them.
Coming off five seasons of “SNL,” Sandler made smart moves building his empire at the beginning.
He had a hot streak going in movies in the mid-’90s, just around the time he was let go from “SNL” in 1995. He developed a formula — building smart comedies around not-that-bright man-child characters in “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” and connected with a crowd who delighted in the goofball antics.
There was a new game plan added to the playbook in the late ’90s and early 2000s: movies created around sad-sack characters that get the girl, such as the slight but genuinely sweet “50 First Dates” and “The Wedding Singer.”
Sometime after the release of 2002’s romantic comedy “Punch-Drunk Love,” Sandler’s most critically acclaimed film to date, though, his sales started dropping off at the box office. That wasn’t a movie Sandler wrote, so perhaps it didn’t appeal to people who like the man-child roles he plays more often.
Keep in mind that Sandler still makes $300 million annually, though, according to Forbes.
ONE THING that has always been consistent with Sandler is that he has shared his good fortune with his friends in Hollywood, giving them cameos, character parts or even larger roles in movies he’s written and often directed and produced.
In a Honolulu Star-Advertiser interview with Schneider in 2015, Schneider praised Sandler for how good he has been to him and others, many of whom are “SNL”-era buddies. Sandler has cast Schneider in more than 20 productions alone since their “SNL” days.
In fact, Schneider had called Sandler “the most selfless person” he knows.
Perhaps some of Sandler’s familiar, congenial charm will be spotted at the show. Or at least that goofball sense of humor.