Sonny: Having a kid is great... as long as his eyes are closed and he's not moving or speaking. (Big Daddy (DVD))

Member Name: ajbluestar

Product:	Big Daddy (DVD)
Date:	12/09/09 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: funny,entertaining and charming at times

Disadvantages: slightly unreliastic/predictable plot

Introduction

Following on from my Waterboy movie review is another Adam Sandler comedy, Big Daddy. Again Sandler is quite succesful in what he does best which is making people laugh. There are some slightly emotional moments which make a change to most of his movies but these are not a regular theme in the movie. This film was released in 1999 and was very successful at the box office although film critics were not so kind with some of their reviews. I enjoyed it, as will I think most Sandler fans.


Plot

The film is about Sonny Koufax (Sandler)who is 32 years old and is a law school graduate but he chose not to take the bar exam and instead works as a toll booth collector part time. He lives in a nice apartment in Manhattan which he obtained after a win in a lawsuit($200,000) which he won a year ago. He also uses this money to live off. He is a bit of a loafer and his fed up girlfriend decides to leave him due to his immaturity and lack of ambition.

When his friend Kevin is on a business trip in China, Sonny discovers that Kevin has a son. In an attempt to help, Sonny offers to take care of the child, thinking it will help win back his old girlfriend and show her his new found maturity. In the process of looking after the child he forms a bond and tries to get custody for him.

Opinion

This might sound like a cheesy feel-good film but with Sandler involved you can expect plenty of laugh out loud moments and comedy which is low-brow, but often hilarious. The film does also offer a few touching scenes between Sandler and the kid but these are thankfully not too much of a common theme. Sandler does what you would expect and is supported well by the boy and his delivery guy friend played by Rob Schneider. The story does come across as having a positive message and trying to think about being moral and responsible but this is sometimes lost in all the comedy. The plot is also at times a little unreliastic and predictable.Its not a clever film or even comedy but it will keep you entertained/laughing and takes you away from life for 90 minutes.

Film details:

Directed by: Dennis Dugan

Produced by:

Joseph M. Caracciolo
Allen Covert
Michelle Holdsworth
Adam Sandler
Robert Simonds
Mary P. Winn
Jack Giarraputo
Alex Siskin
Written by:

Steve Franks
Tim Herlihy
Adam Sandler

Starring:

Adam Sandler
Joey Lauren Adams
Jon Stewart
Rob Schneider
Dylan Sprouse
Cole Sprouse
Leslie Mann
Steve Buscemi
Peter Dante
Josh Mostel

Music by: Teddy Castellucci

Distributed by: Columbia Pictures

Release date(s): June 25, 1999

Running time: 1 hr and 29 mins.

Summary: entertaining/funny and at times charming film