I've written ad nauseam about the shift in the career of Adam Sandler. I've taken more time to analyze why his movies aren't funny anymore due to the constantly shifting criteria of comedy in an ever-evolving society that Sandler doesn't care about than Sandler actually has writing any Grown Ups screenplay. I've explained why I've subjected myself to watching each and every Sandler movie that comes out. I've come to terms several times that a comedic actor that I once admired (and still do-- though not because of the quality of his films) gives no fucks about much anymore as far as providing entertaining content to anyone with at least one flickering brain cell. So, I'm not going to continue beating a dead horse (a different dead horse than the one who explosively shits all over Rob Schneider in The Ridiculous 6, which is supposed to garner "laughs"). One, because it's redundant at this point. And two, because Sandler's last two films for Netflix (The Do-Over and, now, Sandy Wexler) have provided a hazy glimpse into a future of a more mature Adam Sandler. There are actually vast improvements in his last two films. Not so much in the comedy department... but in the I-don't-feel-like-going-on-a-killing-spree-after-watching-it department.
Sandler's last two films are, in fact, more mature than anything released by him in the last decade... but that's not exactly a compliment. Just because a wet piece of dog shit, over time, matures into a hardened rock-like thing, doesn't mean I'm going to touch it with my bare hands. The Do-Over forewent all of the usual bodily fluid "jokes" in favor of an actual plot, with a few genuine laughs sprinkled in. Sandy Wexler does the same thing. However, just because he's not literally showering in donkey diarrhea or swimming in a pool full of human piss... doesn't necessarily suggest that his movies are by any means good still. They're just more... mature. Sandler plays the titular character Sandy Wexler, using, once again, that terrible baby-coo voice he likes to do every three films or so. Wexler is a talent manager in the 90s, repping some truly terrible acts including a redneck Evel Kenevel knock-off (Nick Swardson) and a creepy ventriloquist (Kevin James). He's a naive, idiot, and for some reason, a compulsive liar-- but this all serves the point that he truly cares about his clients. Throughout the film we get backstory of Wexler from some seriously respectable comedians (all of whom are close Sandler friends) playing themselves.
While watching a cheap kids' show at an amusement park, he discovers brilliant and beautiful singer Courtney (Jennifer Hudson) and convinces her to let him manage her career. Slowly, as her career erupts into superstardom, Wexler falls in love with her. The rest of the movie is their relationship fall apart, come together, fall apart, come together, etc. And while, like I said earlier, Sandler and co. don't fall back on bodily pratfalls as an excuse for comedy, the movie... doesn't really seem to have much of a point. As I watched it, I didn't question why I had subjected myself to yet another Sandler travesty, I started questioning why Sandler cared so much about this story and this character to put so much time and money and talent into a pretty pointless story. It's not funny... and it's not unfunny... it just... is. A movie should have some sort of extra quality that proves why a studio committed to it, but there's none of that in Sandy Wexler. He's a very endearing character, and there's significantly more heart in this movie than there's been in any Sandler movie in the last twenty years, but the only thing missing for me was a point.
Sandler is tolerable (even with the "voice"), Hudson is perfect, and even the side characters (though playing caricatures of real people) don't feel stupid. Sandy Wexler, the character, is actually based on a real person close to Sandler-- a talent manager-- and the movie definitely honors a very sweet, if not severely flawed, human being. And if that is only what Sandler is going for, then my guess is that he succeeded. But that's been the problem with a lot of recent Sandler films. They all feel like an inside joke that we, the audience, aren't privy to. And if Sandler doesn't open up the joke to his fans, I don't know how much more he's going to be able to do successfully. Then again, I didn't think he'd survive Jack and Jill so what the hell do I know? Sandler is always going to have his die hard fans. In fact, I recently found out that the reason Netflix sought him out and gave him such an outrageous contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars is that Adam Sandler is the most 'searched' name on Netflix. Sandy Wexler isn't going to drive away any fans who have stuck around this long... but it's still not that movie to bring back those who have thoroughly given up on him.
Also-- side note: While the movie isn't exactly laugh-out-loud funny... there is a scene in the movie involving a racoon and a baseball bat that's funnier than anything Sandler has done since Bob Barker beat the shit out of him.
C-
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