Big Daddy
(By Sygyzy)

                                                                                  Big Daddy
by Sygyzy

Starring: Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Stewart
Directed by Dennis Dugan
Opened June 25, 1999

I saw Big Daddy, staring Adam Sandler, on the day of its premiere.  The theatre was pretty full and the experience was good overall.  In this review I will be explaining what makes the movie great as well as it's downfalls.

The movie places Adam Sandler as a loser who only works one day a week.  His girlfriend is interested in someone with a future and so she basically places an ultimatum on Sandler - get some responsibility or get out.   With this in mind, Sandler eventually starts taking care of a kid to show his girlfriend that he is a responsible, but it grows into so much more as Sandler becomes attached to the kid and they become dependant on each other.  With the summary done with, let's get into the heart of the movie.  Oh yeah, Sandler's character name is Sonny Koufax but I'll refer to him by his real name from this point forward.

Humor Value
This movie is freaking funny.  It is crude and obnoxious and down right gross.  I love it.  There's even something in there for you guys that like to swing it "that way."  Sandler has an insult for everyone and it's always changing.  No repetition of jokes in this movie.  I guess the only negative part about the comedy is it might be offensive to some people, but then again, tell me something that is funny that isn't offensive to someone?

Acting
Adam Sandler's acting was typical.  He is never going to win an award or be compared to the caliber of De Niro or Ford, but fans will not be disappointed with his performance.  He pulled the comedian turned serious actor trick that Jim Carey made famous with The Truman Show.  He is terrible when he tries to make the movie a pull jerker at the end (more on that later).  His performance was overall pretty good.  Nothing excellent or revolutionary here.

The kid (Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse) was downright annoying for the first hour.  I wanted to slap some sense and respect into him but his acting was pretty good as far as a kid can go.  I mean, this is a comedy and there isn't much room to showoff any acting talent.  Anyone can jump up and down and throw up.  It doesn't take talent to do that.  He was successful in that he was able to hate him and then love him, all in 2 hours.  Good job by the kid.

The other actors in the movie have almost no role.  This whole movie is about Sandler and the kid.  A couple of worthy mentions include Sandler's food delivery man played by Rob Schneider. OMG, this guy is so funny! I couldn't get enough of him.  Sandler's roommate Jon Stewart had a very minimal role but he did a good job.  Stewart's fiancé (often referred to as the Hooters girl) was incredibly gorgeous.  She puts that grrr in swingrrr, baby! Sorry, some residual Austin Powers humor left.

Story & Concept
This movie was co-written and produced by Sandler.  It is very typical Sandler humor.  The idea is not incredibly original.  I am sure you guys have seen similar movies before.  The ending was very disappointing and downright corny.  But in a sense, I am not too upset since this is one of those 'stupid humor' movies.  Some movies are funny because they are intelligent (kind of like SNL where on some skits you have to understand politics to get the jokes).  This movie is a comedy and it succeeds at that category.  Under any other category, it would fail miserably.

Final Comments & Overall Score
Big Daddy left me leaving the theatre laughing hysterically.  It was entertaining through and through and it's box office record setting performance is a testament to it's excellence.  Despite it's pitfalls, the movie is good for those evenings when you just want a good laugh and don't want to give yourself a migraine trying to get the jokes.  

Verdict
I give this movie 4 of 5 stars. (2.5 out of 4 when converted to Gerry Dictatorship scale)                             Babe-o-meter: 2 - Semi-doable