Rating of
0.5/4
Perfect for killing brain cells.
memento_mori - wrote on 07/24/13
So, since Grown Ups 2 is opening this weekend, I thought I'd take another look at the other Sandler-Dugan production that polluted my mind and made me dumber for having watched it.
I would like to start out this review by quoting the Nostalgia Critic:
'Reviewing a bad comedy is one of the hardest things to review, because there are only so many times you can say: That's not funny.'
That is completely true about Jack and Jill.
Adam Sandler, what happened? You used to make funny movies, even if they were stupid, they were funny guilty pleasures. And now, you've descended into what I like to call the Sandler-Dugan paradox, consisting of such comedic disasterpieces as You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Grown Ups, Just Go With It and of course this sucker. I call it a paradox, because these movies don't feel real.
They are a string of cheap laughs, which express no desire other than earning back their budget. They feel like plastic, that has just made its way off the production lines, like a Happy Meal toy (except that a Happy Meal toy makes me happy).
Being unfunny is one thing, but being unfunny and not even trying is another.
When your movie is so downright lazy and campy and everyone in the theater auditorium knows you aren't trying, then you sir have failed.
In this movie, a popular tale is ripped off and made fun of. The Jack character is bad enough, but when the identical twin Jill comes to visit, it all goes downhill completely.
I understand Jill is supposed to be annoying, but she is supposed to be funny, too. She isn't. Child leukemia is funnier than this.
So, halfway through the film Al Pacino shows up and pisses all over his legacy. Jill breaks his Oscar, rejects his advances for God knows what reason, makes a fool out of him and basically tells the camera: Laugh now... Please. I'm surprised this movie didn't have a laugh track, then the theater wouldn't have been filled with cricket chirps.
I was fine with the other movies before this one. They were bad, but I paid no attention to them. And when I watched this movie and managed to sit through it, I did my best to forget it afterwards.
When I heard yet another Sandler movie was hitting theaters, I couldn't stay silent.
So, to sum it up: Sandler, stop it. Stop making PG-13 friendly garbage can humor and actually put a little work into your comedies. Remember Punch-Drunk Love? While not the best comedy, it was light-hearted and comical. Make some more of that, please. I don't want to come off as greedy, but please just go back to your older movies.
There, I've made my point.
