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The Do-Over is Adam Sandler's second film under his four film Netflix deal. The first was the horrendously bad The Ridiculous Six. How does his second go-round fare? A little better.
Charlie is a push over. He lives in the same old house, drives the same old car and works at the same old job. His current wife still has flings with her ex-husband and he does nothing about it, instead he supports her financially and takes care of her two brat kids. While at his high-school reunion, he runs into Max, his childhood best friend. Max encourages Charlie to live a little and invites him on his boat for some fun. That boat explodes. Charlie then wakes up to find out Max has faked their deaths to give Charlie a chance to "start-over". The only problem is the two identities they take over have some bad people after them.
Steven Brill's other two Sandler flicks are Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds. This might be the best one out of the three, but that bar isn't exactly high. I'm not sure if I'm going easy on this film or not, but it might be Sandler's best comedy film in years. A quick look at his IMDB resume shows his latest efforts: The Ridiculous Six, Pixels, The Cobbler, Blended, Grown Ups 2, That's My Boy, Jack & Jill...it's sad that The Do-Over is better than these movies. One of the reasons why has to be because this film actually has a STORY to it. A Sandler film with an actual PLOT??? WHAAAAAA???????
So, as one would guess, Max isn't telling Charlie everything and when those bad people come looking for them, Charlie is thrust into this violent life with no ways of protecting himself. He's a geek, a buffoon and has to grow a set in order to help out Max. This could potentially be the best thing for him. David Spade is Charlie, another Sandler friend from SNL. He isn't his usual crude and shred self, he actually shows some pathos here. As for Sandler, he still seems to be a bit on auto-pilot, but he's doing something different, which is something at least. His character obviously has ulterior motives and you can't really take anything he says at face value, so one of the more enjoyable moments is discovering what that is. So yes, I was a little surprised by how NOT TERRIBLE this film was. That's not saying it's good or anything...it's simply not terrible.
Sandler would never give up the opportunity to continue his lavish film location lifestyle as an actor. So like every other film he's been doing, they go to an exotic location here, living in a giant mansion with beautiful women and fast cars. No surprise there. One of those beautiful women is Paula Patton. Unfortunately I don't know if she is phoning it in more than Sandler or not because she is bland.
The Do-Over is an action comedy with some surprising story moments that will only be good to you if you expect the worst. I was expecting the worst. I think they should have gone with this film first and completely nix Ridiculous Six. That film is more gags, this one is more story. Story will always trump dumb gags in my opinion. The Do-Over isn't without it's own share of gags though either. Seeing Spade and Luis Guzmán in a threesome with awkward stares was kind of funny. The ball sweat dripping on someone's face later on was a bit gross...to say the least. Had this film come out first, it would have been reviewed worse in my opinion. It's only because of how UTTERLY TERRIBLE Ridiculous Six is, that this film seems to be getting a pass.
Look, even I'm doing it.
The Do-Over
(Steven Brill)
"Dying was their first mistake."
(Steven Brill)
"Dying was their first mistake."
The Do-Over is Adam Sandler's second film under his four film Netflix deal. The first was the horrendously bad The Ridiculous Six. How does his second go-round fare? A little better.
Charlie is a push over. He lives in the same old house, drives the same old car and works at the same old job. His current wife still has flings with her ex-husband and he does nothing about it, instead he supports her financially and takes care of her two brat kids. While at his high-school reunion, he runs into Max, his childhood best friend. Max encourages Charlie to live a little and invites him on his boat for some fun. That boat explodes. Charlie then wakes up to find out Max has faked their deaths to give Charlie a chance to "start-over". The only problem is the two identities they take over have some bad people after them.
Steven Brill's other two Sandler flicks are Little Nicky and Mr. Deeds. This might be the best one out of the three, but that bar isn't exactly high. I'm not sure if I'm going easy on this film or not, but it might be Sandler's best comedy film in years. A quick look at his IMDB resume shows his latest efforts: The Ridiculous Six, Pixels, The Cobbler, Blended, Grown Ups 2, That's My Boy, Jack & Jill...it's sad that The Do-Over is better than these movies. One of the reasons why has to be because this film actually has a STORY to it. A Sandler film with an actual PLOT??? WHAAAAAA???????
So, as one would guess, Max isn't telling Charlie everything and when those bad people come looking for them, Charlie is thrust into this violent life with no ways of protecting himself. He's a geek, a buffoon and has to grow a set in order to help out Max. This could potentially be the best thing for him. David Spade is Charlie, another Sandler friend from SNL. He isn't his usual crude and shred self, he actually shows some pathos here. As for Sandler, he still seems to be a bit on auto-pilot, but he's doing something different, which is something at least. His character obviously has ulterior motives and you can't really take anything he says at face value, so one of the more enjoyable moments is discovering what that is. So yes, I was a little surprised by how NOT TERRIBLE this film was. That's not saying it's good or anything...it's simply not terrible.
Sandler would never give up the opportunity to continue his lavish film location lifestyle as an actor. So like every other film he's been doing, they go to an exotic location here, living in a giant mansion with beautiful women and fast cars. No surprise there. One of those beautiful women is Paula Patton. Unfortunately I don't know if she is phoning it in more than Sandler or not because she is bland.
The Do-Over is an action comedy with some surprising story moments that will only be good to you if you expect the worst. I was expecting the worst. I think they should have gone with this film first and completely nix Ridiculous Six. That film is more gags, this one is more story. Story will always trump dumb gags in my opinion. The Do-Over isn't without it's own share of gags though either. Seeing Spade and Luis Guzmán in a threesome with awkward stares was kind of funny. The ball sweat dripping on someone's face later on was a bit gross...to say the least. Had this film come out first, it would have been reviewed worse in my opinion. It's only because of how UTTERLY TERRIBLE Ridiculous Six is, that this film seems to be getting a pass.
Look, even I'm doing it.