Big Daddy (1999)

The films of Adam Sandler exist as the baffling proof that humour appealing to the lowest common denominator can indeed succeed in Hollywood. His ideas of how to elicit laughs are crude to say the least, coming from both verbal and physical standpoints. He always plays the main attraction, who by now audiences are familiar with like a scraggly long lost uncle. Sandler's characters are usually various renditions of an overgrown child in an adult man's body, acting much like the one he is charged with taking care of in Big Daddy. They are shouty to the point of being verbally abusive, physically aggressive, impulsive, shameless womanisers, part-time misogynists, and in some cases like this one, going nowhere slackers. I suppose that somewhere within this figure lie some more endearing everyman traits, but somehow they always seem to be pushed aside for more of Sandler's trademark hit moments. The worse disparity of the two ends of this spectrum came in Click, which shifted between genuine, heartbreaking regret and toilet humour of the lowest kind. There was also the apparent subversion of Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love, hosting the same type of character but wrapping him up in sympathy and puppy love. Sandler's stories, in whatever shape, form or plot, usually descend into the character finding and righting his path, a sort of bildungsroman for the child trapped in the adult body. In going through some variation of a life altering trial or tribulation he inevitably finds a bit of common sense and tact, and the film therefore rewards him for it (usually in the form of a girl). But paradoxically they also demand that Sandler not lose any of his original 'charm' that makes his characters what they are - so much so that in the epilogues he still wont't hold back on his typical one-liners. The plots of his films therefore pull off the magical trick of being able to freeze Sandler's characterisation for choice tender moments - segments where the brash loudmouth is suddenly and inexplicably exchanged for the nervous little boy as he tries to woo Layla, or the more responsible parent of Julian. Of course, Layla as a character is little more than a carrot on a stick, a prize to be dangled in front of Sonny to coax him into getting his life together. And Joey Lauren Adams is a goddamn angel with that smile - she would be taken with a serial killer if the plot required her to. But the crux of these plots is that these moments rarely ask Sandler to take up any actual responsibility other than a few of those gift-wrapped moments of sentimentality and assigned 'growth', doled out in spirited montages. When the film then tries to fall back on its humour, it predictably crashes and burns. Julian, portrayed by the Sprouse twins, is an aggressive bundle of cuteness designed to disarm Sandler's brand of cynicism and immaturity. He mispronounces every second syllable like a character from Looney Tunes, and waddles and pouts his lips just the right way so that even Sonny cannot bear but try and act like an actual parent. But Sonny is a Sandler character through and through, and hardly ready to be a father, so along the way Julian picks up the valuable lessons of losing with humility, manners, personal hygiene, altruism, caring for animals and treating women with respect. After Big Daddy Sandler would also start his own production company to ensure these characters survived, and provide Rob Schneider with a reason to live. Despite all of these pitfalls, audiences seem to like repetition and Sandler's brand of humour, perhaps if only to stick around for the rare films in which he is not only funny, but also genuinely likable.An alternative summary of the film: Hooters Hooters Hooters Hooters Hooters. It's ironic that Sonny would bag Corinne for her former college job, because he fits the profile of someone who would frequent the same fast-food joint.

well we meet sonny who goes around with out a care in the world with no responsibilities living with his girlfriend but has a job in toll both but his girlfriend dumps him because he has no career goal and she goes out with a guy years old but sonny wants to prove he is past his childish ways as you see sonny brother going to china he finds out his brother has child from someone knocks on his door and gives him a child but his brother does not it so he say he is Barry Gareth so he is the worst person for parenting cue funny and touching moments as he messes with child with insecurities like live nudes in his bedroom the homeless man Steve buscemi the half an our breakfast time difference in McDonald's time and weeing on restaurant doors plus go up to women to chat them up peeing in the trees he realizes that he is slowly growing up because of this chills he dresses up to make sure this kid feels loved and realizes he didn't have the right parenting grown up so he learns a lot in new York in parts of new York you never see like tribbcca a great cast as back up like Jon Stewart Leslie man this is one of the sweetest romantic and father kind of son story by Adam Sander nature called look who answered 8/10 2hrs of pure fun

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.

Irresponsible slacker Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) begrudgingly 'adopts' his best pal's son Julian (played by twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse), teaching the kid how to act as irresponsibly as he does. Inevitably, Sonny realises his mistake and rectifies the problem, but is eventually rumbled by the social service, who want to put Julian in care. Faced with losing the little guy forever, the layabout smartens up his act, hits the law books and prepares for court, determined to win Julian back.A massive dollop of schmaltzy Hollywood cheeze designed to tug at the heartstrings but leave a big smile on the face, Big Daddy is extremely formulaic stuff that simply lets Sandler do his thing: be a likable loser who learns a valuable life lesson and changes his ways for the better, all the while delivering crass gags about urinating in public and women with big boobs (Leslie Mann and Kristy Swanson bearing the brunt of many a Hooters joke). If Sandler's name in the credits doesn't make you want to turn off instantly, then this should prove a reasonably fun way to waste your time—just don't go expecting too much from it.