Anthony's Film Review - Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

Eight Crazy Nights has a little too much juvenile humor and not enough heart...

Adam Sandler is the kind of comic actor whom I might consider to be a niche actor. In other words, his brand of humor is targeted to a specific kind of audience, not so much a broad audience. That's because his comedy tends to be the juvenile type, the kind that involves various forms of immature behavior and would interest more simple-minded movie watchers. For me, I'm open to many kinds of humor, but I still consider myself as someone who has class. As a result, Sandler's humor is not my usual kind of humor, and I'm often on the fence when it comes to what I think of it.

If it's done well, I might like the movie. But if it's too much, I might not. Eight Crazy Nights presents Sandler humor in a way that puts it on the marginally negative portion of my 1-to-10 rating scale. It's not a terrible movie, because I've seen worse. But if I had to say whether I'd recommend it or not, I would say no, but if his humor is to your liking, be my guest. If, putting aside Sandler, you're wondering if Eight Crazy Nights is a good holiday comedy film, i would still say no, but if you still might like it, be my guest.

In this animated movie, Sandler provides the voice of Davy Stone, a 33-year-old cynical loser in a small town. You can tell that he's the big troublemaker as the film's introduction shows the town as a place where people are happy, but when the movie cuts to Davy drinking alcohol in a Chinese restaurant and letting out loud burps, you know this movie might put off some people. Right after, Davy leaves the restaurant in a drunken state without paying, and the police chase him down. As troublesome as he has been for years, a judge doesn't send him to prison. Rather, he is required to spend time with and learn lessons from Whitey (also voiced by Sandler), a short old high-pitched Jewish man who volunteers as a youth basketball coach.

In the next couple of minutes, the movie throws in plenty of juvenile jokes with this old man, including those involving buttock hair, physical weakness, and even seizures, which I honestly don't see as funny. Then there is one gross-out joke that pretty much told me this movie was not going to be good. It involves Whitey getting trapped in a portable toilet that slides and tumbles down a snowy hill, leaving him covered in human waste. Yes, it is very clear to our eyes that he is heavily smothered in it.

Eventually, we do learn why Davey is the way he is. But it's mentioned a bit too late. By then, the character has come across as such a misanthrope that, even if Davey does something kind for once, it doesn't matter too much overall. Consequently, I'm giving this movie a 5 out of 10, meaning I disliked it and would say I liked it a little if Davey wasn't such a hateful character. As for the jokes, that factored into my rating as well, though not as much. While I don't have a problem with Sandler putting his own funny spin on the holiday movie, this one could've been done a bit better.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Eight Crazy Nights, visit the Internet Movie Database.