Adam Sandler Reveals Which Movie Critics Hated The Most
It’s no secret that not every Adam Sandler movie is the gold standard of filmmaking. The actor certainly has some 90s classic comedies and some incredible dramas under his belt, but critics can be notoriously harsh with even his movies that audiences love. Surprisingly, critics were pretty hard on Billy Madison when it was first released.
During a Netflix conversation about his recent movie Hustle (via Deadline), Adam Sandler talked about the critical reception to Billy Madison, which he co-wrote with Tim Herlihy, saying, “When Billy Madison came out, me and my friend who wrote it, we were just like, ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to write about this in New York!’ We grew up reading the papers, we were going to NYU. And then we read the first one and we were like, ‘Oh my god, what happened? They hate us.'”
Adam Sandler went on, saying “And then we were like, ‘It must have been this paper,’ but then 90% of the papers are going, ‘This is garbage.'” From then on, Sandler says that he didn’t pay as much attention to the critics. That tactic seems to have worked for the actor because many of his most successful films came after Billy Madison.
While Adam Sandler has released quite a few stinkers in his career, he more than makes up for them with comedies like Happy Gilmore and dramas like Punch-Drunk Love. Sandler has had a bit of a renaissance in the last few years, with his best dramatic role yet coming in the form of the 2019 film Uncut Gems. Although the film was snubbed at the Oscars, many thought Sandler’s performance was worthy of acting’s highest accolade.
The aforementioned Netflix film Hustle has also been getting warm reviews for its story and Adam Sandler’s performance, though it’s not quite as groundbreaking as his efforts in Uncut Gems. Fortunately, the Academy will have a chance to rectify their snub when Sandler teams up with his Uncut Gems directors the Safdie Brothers in an upcoming untitled project. Though little is known about the project at this point, it’s sure to be another kinetic thriller that continues to show Sandler has acting chops beyond goofy comedies.
Along with the Safdie Brothers and Adam Sandler, Netflix is also on board for this upcoming untitled project. The Safdie Bros are taking on triple duty again as writers, directors, and producers. If they’re able to match the quality of their last project with Sandler, we’re definitely in for something special.
Until then, you can stream Adam Sandler’s Hustle on Netflix if you want to see his most recent project. Hustle follows a basketball scout who finds an amazing streetball player while he’s in Spain. The film is directed by Jeremiah Zagar and stars Sandler along with Queen Latifah, Juancho Hernangomez, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Anthony Edwards, Robert Duvall, Jordan Hull, Mario Botto, Ainhoa Pillet, Raul Castillo, Heidi Gardner, Jaleel White, and Julius Erving.
There’s no word yet on when we can expect to see Adam Sandler’s project with the Safdie Brothers, but Sandler does have a film coming out soon after the New Year. Sandler will be co-starring with Jennifer Aniston in the sequel to their 2019 film Murder Mystery on February 10. Murder Mystery 2 is directed by James Garelick and also stars Mark Strong, Melanie Laurent, Tony Goldwyn, Jodie Turner-Smith, Adeel Akhtar, and more.
Murder Mystery 2 will continue Adam Sandler’s streak of Netflix movies. He also has two more upcoming films slated to come out on the streaming platform, including You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah! and Spaceman. Both are expected to come out in 2023.
