Looper Readers Reveal The Best Adam Sandler Movie
The question "What's your favorite Adam Sandler movie?" depends on whether you favor The Sand Man's comedic or dramatic efforts. Some are wholly devoted to Sandler's earlier, sillier outings, like "Happy Gilmore," "The Waterboy," "Big Daddy," and "Billy Madison." Others look at the actor and think of the dramatic chops he displayed in "Uncut Gems" and "Punch Drunk Love." Still, other fans might nod toward Sandler's turn in romcoms like "The Wedding Singer," "50 First Dates," and "Blended." Of course, there's always the possibility that they just plain don't like the guy who made "The Chanukah Song" popular at all.
We asked our Facebook followers which of Sandler's roles pleases them the most, and of the 798 responders, the most overwhelmingly popular answer was "Happy Gilmore." This early comedy and icon of the '90s features Sandler as a man who accidentally becomes a golfing superstar thanks to his temper. It earned 180 votes from our readers and was the only answer to break triple digits in our poll.
The next most popular answer was the romantic comedy "50 First Dates," one of Sandler's first collaborations with Drew Barrymore, with 93 votes. His work with Barrymore is so popular with Looper's readers that "Anything with Drew Barrymore in it" got 5 additional votes all by itself.
The third most popular film was "The Waterboy," with 87 nods. The rest of Sandler's most definitive '90s comedies all pulled heavy plaudits, with "The Wedding Singer" getting 79 votes, "Billy Madison" coming in at 49, and "Big Daddy" earning 40. But it turns out that Sandler's dramatic work — and even his financially unsuccessful projects — gained a foothold in our poll.
Uncut Gems maintains a surprisingly strong showing among many of Sandler's fans
Most of Adam Sandler's projects managed to land mentions in the poll, but his dramatic work drew special notice. "Uncut Gems" pulled 45 votes, and "Punch-Drunk Love" got 31 mentions. There was a surprisingly strong showing for "Reign Over Me," one of Sandler's quieter dramatic efforts, which snagged 22 votes, and "Spanglish" grabbed 18. There were also good showings for "The Grown Ups" series, "Blended," "The Longest Yard," "Just Go with It," and "Little Nicky," all of which landed double-digit-plus numbers.
It's interesting to note that many readers turned in to say they like none of Sandler's work or that they love all of it, with 26 fans saying they adored it all and 62 saying they hated everything Sandler has touched. And for a good chunk of Looper's readers, the occasion was an occasion for merriment. There were joke write-ins for "The Batman," "The Joy Luck Club," "The Godfather," and "Hellboy."
The question also sparked some readers' wits. "The words Adam Sandler and 'good movie' should not be in the same sentence," said Brian Powell. Gavin Britcher was one of several readers who said that their favorite part of any Adam Sandler movie is the end credits. Jose Barrera declared he was a fan of any moment where Sandler has to scream, and Ovan Shortt said that their favorite Adam Sandler film involves "The one where he plays an immature adult and gets the hot girl. You know the one.." Indeed, it appears that many Looper readers do.