Big Daddy was made around the time that Adam Sandler was evolving. Having just finished The Waterboy and The Wedding Singer, Sandler is back to his old self. Luckily, his material was new and fresh, so he was not very hated.
The character of Sonny Kofax early on in the film is pretty much Adam Sandler playing Adam Sandler. He is a 32-year-old law school grad who works one day a week as a toll-booth ticket- taker. The rest of the time, he lazes out buying worthless junk and lives off a successful lawsuit filed two years earlier. This first little bit is typical Sandler. But there's no fart jokes which make it more of a cute kind of funny. When his roommate (Stewart) is out of town, a child named Julian (Sprouse) drops by with a note claiming to be his. He lies to social services saying he is his roommate and adopts him, hoping it will show responsibility and maturity. When his girlfriend (Swanson) dumps him for a much older man, Sonny tries to take the kid back. When he grows to love him, he tries to fight to keep him.
So we get regular Sandler progressing to a more mature version of himself. Yes, there is silly toilet humour, but nothing that crosses the line of stupid and unfunny. When he adopts Julian, it is funny to see someone irresponsible like Adam Sandler caring for a 5-year-old. He has no idea what to do. This day in age, young parents are the norm. Teens always get pregnant. Since they are still kids themselves and not fully mature, they have tough times raising their own. Big Daddy kind of reflects that: he is immature and adopts a child. But the responsibility that he takes on makes him wake up and smell the coffee. He must discipline him as well as give him freedom. Of course it is hard to get the hang of, but that is all part of parenthood and Adam Sandler adds humour to that in all the right spots. Because he got a dose of reality, his love life strengthens when he falls for Layla Maloney (Adams) and finally becomes a successful lawyer by the end.
Big Daddy offers us truly funny and clever Adam Sandler humour, along with a beautiful glimpse at fatherhood.
3.5/4
The character of Sonny Kofax early on in the film is pretty much Adam Sandler playing Adam Sandler. He is a 32-year-old law school grad who works one day a week as a toll-booth ticket- taker. The rest of the time, he lazes out buying worthless junk and lives off a successful lawsuit filed two years earlier. This first little bit is typical Sandler. But there's no fart jokes which make it more of a cute kind of funny. When his roommate (Stewart) is out of town, a child named Julian (Sprouse) drops by with a note claiming to be his. He lies to social services saying he is his roommate and adopts him, hoping it will show responsibility and maturity. When his girlfriend (Swanson) dumps him for a much older man, Sonny tries to take the kid back. When he grows to love him, he tries to fight to keep him.
So we get regular Sandler progressing to a more mature version of himself. Yes, there is silly toilet humour, but nothing that crosses the line of stupid and unfunny. When he adopts Julian, it is funny to see someone irresponsible like Adam Sandler caring for a 5-year-old. He has no idea what to do. This day in age, young parents are the norm. Teens always get pregnant. Since they are still kids themselves and not fully mature, they have tough times raising their own. Big Daddy kind of reflects that: he is immature and adopts a child. But the responsibility that he takes on makes him wake up and smell the coffee. He must discipline him as well as give him freedom. Of course it is hard to get the hang of, but that is all part of parenthood and Adam Sandler adds humour to that in all the right spots. Because he got a dose of reality, his love life strengthens when he falls for Layla Maloney (Adams) and finally becomes a successful lawyer by the end.
Big Daddy offers us truly funny and clever Adam Sandler humour, along with a beautiful glimpse at fatherhood.
3.5/4