The late 1990s and early 2000s were an absolute golden age for comedian Adam Sandler. The Saturday Night Live star seemed to be everywhere, the star of a new blockbuster comedy every few months.
Now, close to twenty years on, one has shot itself back up the charts and is on the tail of The Batman at the number five spot on HBO Max. Anger Management released in 2003 but is now back as audiences hunger for more Sandler in a post-Uncut Gems world.
Absolutely stacked in its cast, it’s perhaps about time it got some love. Starring Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, and an uncredited cameo from John C. Reilly it truly is a who’s-who type of movie. The film follows Nicholson as a unconventional therapist who specializes in anger management, and his latest client in Sandler’s David.
It’s your fairly typical Sandler movie of the era, with a lot of yelling around expensive hotels while accomplished actors make an utter fool of themselves. Tomei and January Jones’s appearances are particularly breath-taking, because surely nobody can remember them being in this movie.
It wasn’t particularly well received at release, with critics calling it out as a waste of its talented cast. Sitting at a 45 percent approval rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it at least had a bit more joy with audiences with a 60 percent sore — one point above being “rotten”.
Anger Management was a financial hit, however. Grossing $195 million from its $75 million budget, it definitely made its money back. It later spawned a TV series with none other than Charlie Sheen and Hellboy’s Selma Blair.
Anger Management is available to stream on HBO Max.
