When the entire world visited a theater for the new Marvel blockbuster this weekend, Netflix decided to release its own brand of blockbuster: Adam Sandler’s The Week Of.
Normal movies warrant a normal review, but The Week Of is not a normal movie. This is an Adam Sandler movie, which inherently makes it impossible to review because everything that has ever been said about an Adam Sandler movie has already been said. Every perspective has been explored, every criticism has been explained, every joke has been lobbed, and Sandler continues to release a variation of the same thing.
Just by saying his name, a curious audience can accurately guess the cast, the humor, the tone, and the dialogue. The only unique aspect of the film is the premise itself. Sandler and Chris Rock play the fathers of a couple about to be married. In the week before the wedding, both families come together and everything goes wrong. As always, keep a keen eye for the Dan Patrick cameo.
The Week Of tries so hard to be a heartwarming family comedy, but the cringeworthy jokes and Sandler’s cartoonish style consistently make the movie near unwatchable. Comedian Robert Smigel was tapped to co-write and direct the movie. His only artistic contribution seems to be his choice of more natural lighting. This film is not as shiny and abrasive as the other Sandler features.
After 100 minutes of crude humor, Sandler follows his usual script by trying to throw on a Billy Joel song and a tender father-daughter moment. None of it is earned, but no emotional moment in a Sandler movie ever is.
Highlighting every ridiculous comedy sequence would be exhausting, so only one was chosen to perfectly describe the film. Halfway through the movie, The Week Of attempts a gut-busting sequence that flops as hard as Pixels did in theaters. After a long day, Chris Rock’s character falls asleep in a living room with the rest of the enormous family. He is coincidentally laying next to Uncle Seymour, an elderly man who lost his legs from diabetes. Here is how the dominoes fall:
- Rock is having a sexual dream and starts rubbing Uncle Seymour’s amputated legs.
- He wakes up, screams (somehow not waking anyone up), and jumps to his feet.
- While running into the kitchen, he trips over a cord, knocking over an appliance full of water straight onto Uncle Seymour’s head (not waking anyone up).
- Still screaming (and not waking anyone up), Rock runs into the closeby kitchen where Sandler’s wife, played by Rachel Dratch, is somehow baking brownies in the middle of the night.
- Dratch thinks there is a burglar, Rock says there is not a burglar, Dratch completely ignores him and hands him a hot tray of brownies to go grab a bat
- Rock, now in incredible pain, screams even louder, somehow still not waking anyone up
- The tray drops, Dratch realizes her mistake and decides that honey is the best remedy for burnt hands (her second mistake)
- With his hands full of honey and still screaming at the top of his lungs, Rock finally wakes someone up: the family German Shepherd
- The dog runs straight toward Rock, knocking him over. End of scene.
This scene captures the essence of this movie. Sandler does have an audience that enjoys his films, and this sequence is a good litmus test to how much someone likes or dislikes his style. The ironic thing is that the scene doesn’t even include Sandler.
The Week Of can be described in one scene, but it can also be described by one picture straight from the movie:
This the fourth film of Sandler’s deal with Netflix, a deal that recently expanded from four to eight. There is no sign the man is stopping, and there is no sign that the quality is increasing.
