Adam Sandler is the Man!

Adam Sandler is one under-rated actor.

I think he's brilliant in Punch-Drunk Love and the recent Spanglish. I wish he would take up more dramatic roles but a check at IMDB reveals more comedies.

It's weird if you look at his career path closely. He started with Saturday Night Live where he's famous for his quirky Chanukah and Lunch-Lady songs. Then he move over to films where his roles would usually consists of down-trodden oddman who always gets the last laugh (and the girl!) like The Waterboy, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. And then you have the occasional cameo appearances in The Animal and The Hot Chick. I don't know what he was thinking when he did Little Nicky. From weird tasteless comedies he suddenly end up in Spanglish.

He went from this

to this


This drama has some funny bits but instead of physical comedy, the comic relief comes from the script which needs proper execution.

I like how the movie played with the various authoritative roles that each character has. Usually it's like mother-husband-wife-kids-maid-maid's daughter. But in this movie it's not really clear who's the actual authority figure in this little household. The mother is an alcoholic, the husband holds high respect for the maid, the wife doesn't really know what she's suppose to do, the children suffocating under the rule of their mother, the maid feels sorry for the kids and the maid's daughter tries to make sense of it all.

In the beginning it was husband-wife-mother-kids-maid-maid's daughter. Then it becomes husband-maid-kids-maid's daugter-wife-mother. There was a time when it was wife-husband-mother-kids-maid's daughter-maid and suddenly it changed into maid-mother-husband-wife-kids-maid's daughter. Just watch it. It's quite a gem.

Forget about Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle or Casablanca. I think 50 First Dates is the most romantic movie I have ever seen. Romantic movies usually involves one party having to sacrifice something to be with the one he/she loves. But in 50 First Dates, Henry Roth has to face the possibility that one day he would lose his mojo and cannot make Lucy fall in love with him again.

You know how men sometimes become less loving after they got the girl? Well Henry won't have a chance in hell to do that. He has to keep the passion alive each and every day to keep her. And he still wants her even though he has the challenging task of winning her heart everyday. If that's not romantic I don't what is.

To conclude, let me say this again - Adam Sandler is one under-rated actor.