This movie really reflected an Adam Sandler in transition. Sure he started off as a workaholic family neglecting man. But he still seemed like Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore. Given the power of the remote, he does things like kick people in the nuts and fart in his bosses face. Seemed pretty old school and standard comedy fair. I guess this is what I was expecting from this movie since it was marketed this way. But then the director changes his mind. The theme starts to get more serious and take on life lessons. A stretch from where it started. Don't get me wrong, I think it was a good change but it just doesn't seem to fit. Henry Winkler was great as his dad. The scene where he rewinds to the last time he saw his father was very sad. Then they seal the deal by telling you he wasn't there when his dad died. Also nicely done was the scene at his son's wedding where he is fumbling while try to figure out exactly what he has missed this time. The moral of the story is solid and one worth turning into a film. I'm just not impressed with the path the director took us down to get there.
Teared up at the touching moments and the underlying message of the movie, but it could not save the movie itself from being terrible. The protagonist is unlikable, doesn't listen to advice and keeps blaming the 'messenger' for ruining his life. Buddy, you ruined your own life by not heeding advice, and acting throughout majority of the movie like somebody who just can't delay gratification (or bad moments), even though he has been through so many events that served as lessons.
Heck, the rain scene near the end where he chases down his son to relay the important message of putting family first could have been very meaningful, but throughout that scene I simply thought: he still isn't listening to advice (Morty warns him it can all end here if he continues), and undermines the scene because 'putting family first' doesn't mean you can sacrifice your own life to deliver a message that probably can be done over a communication device while not sacrificing your life, or perhaps even the next time when they visit. Unnecessarily sacrificing your own life is simply being selfish and not putting your own family first, even if it means your message will have 100x more impact.
To add to the negatives, Sandler's expressions were wooden throughout the movie, except when his character felt distraught, which ironically I would think requires more acting skills. Not having watched many of Sandler's movies, I wondered if that was meant to be his character's expression, or simply that the acting was bad. Either way, it was quite distracting and pulled the bar down even lower.
Review by joeshuffVIP 2BlockedParentSpoilers2019-04-19T22:08:05Z
Just wow. This film really has it all for me, humour, good story and motive and it really pulls on the heart strings. Really not what I expected from a Sandler film but this is definitely among the top films he's ever made.
I went into this film expecting to be crying, I recall seeing it when I was younger and remembered that it was sad, but couldn't remember specifics. There is a lot of emotions throughout this whole film, so make sure you've got tissues handy.
Firstly, Sandlers character is a difficult one to sympathise with, simply because he is so arrogant and impatient. There were many times when I thought "yeh you deserve to lose your wife if you behave like this". But that didn't stop it from being sad. Whilst I think this movie progressed really quickly, it definitely worked as the point of this movie felt like "life is quick". When it got to the later stages of his life it really started to get hard to watch without getting teary eyed. The scene where he last sees his father is a big one, one that really hurt, it made me want to just call my dad and talk to him forever.
The lesson of this film is outstanding, "family comes first" and it has an immensely effective way of getting that lesson across, I think this is going to be one of the films that I will never forget.
I could write lots about this film but I am struggling to find all the words.
8/10
18/04/2019