I’m not the biggest Adam Sandler fan, although there are a few of his movies that I do really enjoy (50 First Dates, Waterboy), but it seems like no matter what, I still end up looking forward to watching his films for some odd reason. I guess I just always know that they’re going to be mindlessly entertaining for the most part and will have at least a couple of funny bits in them–although expectedly disjointed. This movie is no exception. But besides having its 2 or 3 laughable moments, it isn’t a good movie by any means. The story is predictable and far from original. It’s corny. The setup is too long and it takes forever to get the audience into it. There wasn’t enough comedic momentum to really drive the film for any given amount of time. The script was extremely sloppy, and it even seemed as though things had been put together after the fact or added at the last minute. And I’m not saying this as a bad thing–but the randomness was at an all-time high–even for an Adam Sandler film. But it was still entertaining and heartwarming where it needed to be without seeming too fake.
Like I said, it’s really predictable, but I do applaud the filmmakers for not letting the movie unfold in a predictable way. There were a couple of nice plot twists actually. The visuals are really nice, and the set pieces are very detailed–which is something that will probably make people come back for a rewatch.
Overall, it really suffers from sloppiness and lack of structure towards the beginning. But story-wise, the 3rd act saved it for me, and will most likely do the same for the less picky moviegoers.
Twizard Rating: 68
The Twizard 