After seeing Adam Sandler in the great "Punch-Drunk Love," I assumed that his movies would get better. I assumed that after being in an awesome movie, Adam Sandler would wanna continue to make movies that were a little more sophisticated. Don't get me wrong, I like a lotta Adam Sandler movies, but they're not exactly Shakespeare. They're dumb and juvenile, but most are still pretty entertaining. I just figured that "Punch-Drunk Love" would be a turning point in Adam Sandler's career, and his movies would improve. I couldn't have been more wrong. The first movie he released after "Punch-Drunk Love" was his animated holiday film, "Eight Crazy Nights." What a piece of shit THAT was. Then comes "Anger Management," a movie that was brilliantly casted, and had some serious potential. Well, the good news is that it's a lot better than "Eight Crazy Nights." The bad news is that it's still pretty damn bad.
"Punch-Drunk Love" was written and directed by the very talented filmmaker, Paul Thomas Anderson. His films include "Hard Eight," "Boogie Nights," and "Magnolia." Surprisingly, quite a few people in this movie were in Paul Thomas Anderson's films. It's not so surprising to see Luis Guzmán, because he was in "Punch-Drunk Love" (he was also in "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia") as Adam Sandler's best friend. Another Paul Thomas Anderson favorite, John C. Reilly (you saw him in the trailer of this movie... he was the Buddhist monk) was in every Paul Thomas Anderson movie EXCEPT for "Punch-Drunk Love." There's one more person in "Anger Management" who had a big role in a Paul Thomas Anderson film. I won't say who the person is, because it's a surprise cameo, but you can see this person in "Boogie Nights." With all these people in the movie, I'm surprised that I didn't see a cameo by Phillip Seymour Hoffman! Actually, one cameo you've probably come to expect in an Adam Sandler movie is nowhere to be found. I wonder what happened there?
I really need to see another Paul Thomas Anderson movie. The guy is incredibly talented, and if Tim Burton's next movie is as disappointing as "Planet of the Apes," I might have to officially replace Tim Burton as my favorite director with Paul Thomas Anderson. I know that's a big statement, but I really like Anderson's movies. He's yet to make a bad one. In fact, every movie of his is no less than brilliant. Of course, many would disagree. I know plenty of people who find his work pretentious and self-indulgent, but I disagree, and I like it a lot.
Okay, I'm getting further and further off track here...
"Anger Management" isn't terrible, but it's very disappointing. I still haven't seen "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore," or "Bulletproof" (I'll get around to renting the DVDs eventually), but I liked "The Waterboy" and "The Wedding Singer" a lot, and "Big Daddy" and "Little Nicky" were pretty bad, but very entertaining. I laughed a lot, ya know? With "Anger Management," I didn't even do a lotta laughing. Some of it made me smile, and it wasn't boring, but I didn't laugh as much as I should have, not even close. Considering the cast and the concept, it shoulda been a lot funnier.
Jack Nicholson plays the anger management advisor to Adam Sandler, and the joke is that Jack Nicholson's character is an explosive lunatic while Adam Sandler is a mild-mannered putz who isn't willing to stand up for himself. Throw in a really good story, add some good comedy, and there's a great movie. The problem is that the story isn't all that great. Actually, I take that back, the story isn't so bad. Actually, it's pretty good, but most of the jokes aren't funny. That's where they messed up, it's simply not that funny. Adam Sandler can be funny, and Jack Nicholson can certainly be funny, but the screenplay doesn't give them enough comedy to work with. There are no show-stopping scenes, like ones you'd find in "American Pie" or "There's Something About Mary." The effort is there, like the one with John C. Reilly as the Buddhist monk, but ultimately, it falls flat.
Marisa Tomei plays "the girl," and her part is nothing special. Still, she's a really good actress, and she's adorable, and it's always a delight to watch her in a movie. John Turturro, who was in "Mr. Deeds" with Adam Sandler (that's another one I need to rent), is also in the movie, and he's very good. He's a great character actor, and he can add a lot to a movie. He should do one with Paul Thomas Anderson! Allen Covert, who has been in just about every Adam Sandler movie, returns in this one. The guy is like a man of 1000 faces. Every time I see him, he looks totally different. It's a shame that the only work he seems to get is in Adam Sandler movies, 'cause he's really good. The yummy and gorgeous Krista Allen is in the movie, and she plays a lesbian (to all the pervs out there, all you get to see is a little girl-on-girl kissing, nothing else... and no, there isn't any nudity, this is a PG-13 flick). In case you don't know who Krista Allen is, she was in "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" as the sexy babe in The Grotto of the Playboy Mansion. She's the one telling Chuck Barris how pathetic he is, but she does it in the sexiest way possible. It's a great scene. She was also in a very memorable episode of the TV show, "Smallville," where she played a really hot teacher. Also, like me, she's an Aries, so you know she's cool.
"Anger Management" was directed by Peter Segal (he directed "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," "My Fellow Americans," "Tommy Boy," and "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult"). I think he did a decent job directing, it's the script that's the real problem. The screenplay was written by David Dorfman, and this was his debut. Like I said, I liked the overall story, but the comedy didn't work for me. Maybe it looked hilarious on paper, but on film, it wasn't up to par. I don't think he's a bad writer, but perhaps comedy isn't his thing. Or maybe it is, and he's still working on it. I hope his next script is a masterpiece, I'm pulling for him.
I was disappointed by "Anger Management," but it has it's moments. The story is a good one, and it's got good acting, it just isn't as funny as the cast and concept would suggest. I really hope that Adam Sandler's next movie kicks ass, but it'll be hard to beat "Punch-Drunk Love." Then again, most Adam Sandler fans hated that movie, so what the hell do I know?
Scale of 1-10: 5