Since abandoning the big screen and pitching up exclusively at Netflix, Adam Sandler‘s Happy Madison picked up right where it left off by delivering a string of terrible comedies that get unanimously trashed by critics, while being rapturously received by audiences and drawing in big viewing figures.
So far, the company has churned out a dozen feature-length originals for the streaming service, and the pattern has remained the same. In fact, the only one that wasn’t a straightforward comic caper also happens to be not just the sole movie to receive widespread acclaim, but Hustle is additionally the best-reviewed film of both Sandler’s entire career and Happy Madison’s whole back catalogue.
The other 11 scored between zero and 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, so it was entirely within reason to assume that You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah would follow the same path given that the only three of the outfit’s 50+ projects to emerge above the 60 percent threshold and be designated “Fresh” find Sandler taking on more serious subject matter.
And yet, in a turn-up for the books nobody could have seen coming based on nothing but the facts, the early reviews so far have been exceedingly positive.
Are we witnessing a sea change for both Sandler and Happy Madison at large? Probably not, but it’s nonetheless encouraging to know that not all of the production house’s onscreen efforts are destined to take a merciless pasting, even if we’d still love to see it happen a little more often than it ever has and currently does.
Published: Aug 19, 2023 01:38 am