Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Adam Sandler plays Barry Egan, a lonely, anxious man full of repressed rage, who attempts to court romance while finding himself the subject of extortion. The title is apt because this movie washes over you with colors and sounds that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, as dark and fucked up as it all is boiling beneath the surface. An absurdist romantic tale that still remains my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson film and one of Sandler's best roles to date.

5 pudding cups out of 5

Lorne (2026)

Lorne Michaels, the maverick behind Saturday Night Live for the past five decades, is given his own spotlight here, where he is as cagey, elusive and stoic as ever, including to his own friends and co-workers. This doc attempts to penetrate the mystique that surrounds this aura with a cheeky narrative approach that guesses at half-truths, along with some candid footage of the man behind the curtain at Studio 8H, where he ushered in an era of counter-cultural voices and leaves behind an enormous legacy of comedic talent. Yet, at the end of the day, we still don't know much more than when we started. 

2½ Dr. Evil impressions out of 5

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Demonstrating he has range, Sandler's next headlining role had him portraying a failed hockey player with anger issues who channels his rage into his golf game in order to save his grandmother's house from foreclosure. He sparks a rivalry with the villainous Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald), while learning the skills of the game from the one-armed Chubbs (Carl Weathers). The humor in this movie is all over the map, but there are enough memorable moments to cement this as a classic and one of The Sandman's defining roles.

3 fores out of 5

Billy Madison (1995)

A completely spoiled, obnoxious, simple-minded moron is told he will have to go back and finish grade school in order to prove he is capable enough to take over the family business and save it from the evil asshole who would inherit it.

This was Adam Sandler's first major leading role, coming hot off his success from SNL, in which he pretty much played the same gibberish-speaking cretin. This stuff was funny back before it wore out its welcome and, in some ways, this is one of the best comedies Sandler ever made because it was still pure.

There are two ways to review a movie like this: One is with a critical eye and the other is based on how much I personally enjoyed it. How funny you find this is directly proportional to your willingness to laugh at utter stupidity. I find it fucking hilarious. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

3 flaming bags of poop out of 5

Between the Temples (2024)

Suffering a crisis of faith after the loss of his wife, a man finds comfort in reuniting with his childhood music teacher, while she seeks to have the bat mitzvah she was denied as a child. Both of their families disapprove.

I kind of really didn't like this movie at all. Don't get me wrong; I think Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman are great, but I didn't buy the Harold & Maude angle in the least, especially because it seemed strangely one-sided and completely out of the blue. Meanwhile, he's got this great girl fawning over him and he rejects her? Does not compute.

2 car BJs out of 5