Adam Sandleris one of the more divisive actor/writer/comedians working in Hollywood today. From his early stand-up beginnings, to his comedic songs onSaturday Night Live, to his chaotic career in feature films, Sandler has cultivated a fan following over his more than 25 years in the biz. There are certainly highs and lows to be found in his numerous performances, but he’s also churned out so many comedies that there’s likely to be at least one movie in his filmography for everyone.
With that in mind, we turned to Netflix to find out just which Sandler movies are available to stream. While it’s a fairly small selection considering just how many movies he has on his resume, there are enough of them to please (and infuriate) all sorts of fans.
From Worst to First, here are all of Adam Sandler’s movies on Netflix, ranked, including the most recent release,Hubie Halloween; be sure to read our ownAllie Gemmill’sreview here. Here’s the synopsis for that movie, which follows up on Sandler’s fantastic, should-have-been-Oscar-nominated run inUncut Gems:
Hubie Dubois (Adam Sandler) thanklessly spends every Halloween making sure the residents of his hometown, Salem, celebrate safely and play by the rules. But this year, an escaped criminal and a mysterious new neighbor have Hubie on high alert. When people start disappearing, it’s up to Hubie to convince the police (Kevin James, Kenan Thompson) and townsfolk that the monsters are real, and only he can stop them. Hubie Halloween is a hilarious family film about an unlikely hero with an all-star cast including Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Noah Schnapp, Steve Buscemi and Maya Rudolph, produced by Happy Madison.
The Ridiculous 6
Director:Frank Coraci
Writers:Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler
Netflix doesn’t have all of Sandler’s films, but they do manage to have both his best and arguably worst efforts of his career. Since we’re starting with the bottom of the barrel, you can’t do much worse than his latest feature,The Ridiculous 6. Not just an affront to great Westerns it attempts to draw from, it also manages to offend all the minority groups that Sandler’s previous stereotypes have yet to hit, namely Native Americans and Mexicans. Coraci employs Man of 1,000 RacesRob Schneiderto play Ramon the burro-loving peasant, and a few White comediennes (including his wife) as Native American women with such colorblind names as Never Wears Bra and Beaver Breath.
Look, if you’re a fan of Sandler’s brand of mean-spirited, chop-busting, scatological humor, there’s plenty on display here. But unlike films in which Sandler gets to pal around with his best buddies while making millions on a film set, he doesn’t even appear to be having fun in this latest romp…which is a comedy, by the way. Even Vanilla Ice as Mark Twain can’t salvage any laughs. But don’t worry: if it’s a donkey with explosive diarrhea you’re looking for, you’re in good shape.
Eight Crazy Nights
This title is currently listed as DVD Only.
Director:Seth Kearsley
Writers:Brooks Arthur, Allen Covert, Brad Isaacs, Adam Sandler
Just because a movie is animated doesn’t mean it’s necessarily for kids. Then again, an animated movie that’s about the holiday of Hanukkah might make you think that maybe it’s family friendly, or at least entertaining. As for Sandler’sEight Crazy Nights, it’s none of the above. As with most of Sandler’s protagonists—when he’s not being a Native American-raised martial arts action hero—Davey Stone is a real jerk who also happens to be an alcoholic with a tragic past. Continuing the trend of Sandler’s films, Davey goes through a redemptive arc that ultimately makes him a more worthwhile human being by the movie’s end.
The problem with the journey inEight Crazy Nightsis that it’s not the least bit funny, enjoyable, or heart-warming, and it barely touches on holiday themes at all. Instead, it really centers on a strange, diminutive, hairy old gremlin of a man with mismatched feet whose big heart goes unappreciated in a town full of jerks. It’s just a shame that Davey is the biggest jerk of them all, so even when the reason behind all his pain is revealed, you can’t help but feel more than a passing pity for him. If you can stand Sandler’s nasal, whining voice as the seizure-plagued oddity that is Whitey for the entire film, you’ve already suffered more than Davey himself.
The Do Over
Director:Steven Brill
Writers:Kevin Barnett, Chris Pappas
Maybe now’s a good time to say that I no longer understand the appeal of watching a Sandler movie. I get the tendency to want to “turn your brain off” and watch some silly shenanigans, laugh at poop jokes, and have a good time. But lately, Sandler’s efforts require audiences to turn their brains down to the point of flatlining where there is no chance of resuscitation; then, and only then, will the weak comedic material have a chance at eliciting laughter.The Do Over, Sandler’s 2016 movie for Happy Madison’s streaming partner Netflix, is arguably his dumbest to date and easily the least funny.
The only reason this hour-and-forty-eight-minute trudge though Sandler andDavid Spade’sexcuse for a trip to Puerto Rico to party with young women and get free shit from Bud Light, Ferrari, and Dunkin Donuts isn’t ranked lower is because it isn’t as broadly offensive asEight Crazy NightsandThe Ridiculous 6. Make no mistake, it’s offensive to anyone with a baseline-functioning cortex, but it takes only a relative few cheap shots at homosexuals, the elderly, and the mentally disabled. That’s Sandler showing restraint. If and when you make it to the end of this nonsensical, unfunny, and absolutely unnecessary movie, I dare you to come here and defend its idiocy while keeping a straight face. (Maybe I’m too hard on Sandler. It’s not like he’s claiming to have cured cancer or anything…)
The Week Of
Director:Robert Smigel
Writers:Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel
The Week Of, Sandler & Co’s 2018 Netflix movie, covers the span of one week in a runtime of about two hours. However, those two hours are so tedious, so uninteresting, so downright dull that it makes you feel as if you’re watching this wedding week mockumentary in real time. There’s no reason for this film to exist other than contractual obligations, bonus bucks from product placement, and a way for Sandler, Smigel, andChris Rockto maybe exorcise some personal demons. There’s also no reason for you to watch this flick unless you’re a diehard Sandler fan who never misses one of his movies (or are being paid to do so).
The premise ofThe Week Ofis simple and actually had some promise for dramatic conflict and the humor that could have come from it: Sandler’s character, an optimistic father of the bride-to-be who’s stretching every penny to give his daughter the wedding of her dreams (or possibly his dreams), navigates awkward family relations, both with his own eccentric and sprawling brood and that of Rock’s family. Complicating factors is that Rock’s character is a super-successful LA-based surgeon who prioritizes chasing tail over spending time with his family. At the end of the week (and two grueling hours), both men inevitably reconcile their differences and their own personal shortcomings, but is such a weakly achieved resolution that it rings hollow.
Unfortunately, even for those among you who love Sandler’s particular brand of humor, there’s little of it here to enjoy. Sandler screeches in his affected voice to the point of going hoarse, Rock’s hornball character mistakes Uncle Seymour’s leg stumps for a particularly firm pair of breasts during an awkward dream scene (the movie attempts to get a lot of physical humor out ofJim Barone, most of it cringe-worthy), and there’s no shortage of mild jabs tinged with racism, sexual perversion, and the stigma of mental illness. You know, the usual.The Week Ofis pretty mild on the offensiveness scale, dead-on-arrival when it comes to laughs, and completely flatlines on heart. Skip it and save yourself two hours.
Anger Management
Director:Peter Segal
Writer:David Dorfman
You might think thatJack Nicholsonbeing in this film might raise the standard for his co-stars a bit, but in fact his innate ability is diluted by Happy Madison’s bizarre brand of humor. There’s the usual low-brow humor, the nods to New York—Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Yankees Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens make terrible cameos—and a surprising amount of 9/11 jabs for a movie that came out in 2003. The only thing more surprising than Sandler’s Dave Buznik datingMarisa Tomeiis Giuliani shouts for him to “give her a five-second frencher” in front of a packed Yankee Stadium.
The one thing this comedy has on the earlier entries in the list is that at least it elicited some laughs:Kevin Nealonand a fat cat named Meatball were funnier by far than the rest of the cast. Perhaps the fault lies in the premise, in which Dave’s propensity to bottle up his emotions eventually leads to a court-mandated anger management course. This brings him into the scope of Nicholson’s guru Dr. Buddy Rydell, as well as characters played by Sandler’s usual cast of friends and family. The final punchline could cause you to slam your computer screen down in frustration, so viewer beware.
Just Go with It
Director:Dennis Dugan
Writers:Allan Loeb (screenplay), Timothy Dowling (screenplay), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay “Cactus Flower”), Abe Burrows (stage play), Pierre Barillet (French play), Jean-Pierre Grédy (French play)
Just Go With Itfeels like it was made up as the cast and crew went along. That’s probably half right. The adaptation once-removed began its life as the French playFleur de cactusbyPierre BarilletandJean-Pierre Gredy. Tony Award-winnerAbe Burrowsthen adapted the play for the Broadway stage beforeI.A.L. Diamondscripted the farce for the big screen asCactus Flowerin 1969; that turn earnedGoldie Hawnan Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. The story was so well-received throughout its run that it was even adapted as a Bollywood movie in 2005. But it was 2011’sJust Go With Itthat likely marks the end of the play’s string of adaptations for the foreseeable future.
One modern change that Sandler & Co.’s movie makes to the original story is the removal of the lovestruck Toni’s suicide attempt at being spurned by the object of her affection. That’s a big yikes even among Sandler’s worst moments, so that edge has been softened a great deal. However, the focus has also been shifted onto the womanizing doctor (Sandler) who pretends to be unhappily married to get dates without romantic attachments. That plan backfires when he meets a young woman (Brooklyn Decker, whose slow-motion beach scene is probably all that anyone will remember from this movie) he’s actually interested in, but has to prove to her that he’s an unhappily married man headed for divorce. Obviously, he recruits his best friend / office manager (Jennifer Aniston) and her kids to fill in the family roles, a totally normal thing to do.
Ultimately, all the originality of the source material is wrung out by this adaptation, even with the changes.Just Go With Ittakes the story from a farce to a outright nonsense. The cast and their parts to play are serviceable, especially those with a brief cameo here and there, but this movie is just another round of Sandler and his pals on a paid vacation. It’s fine as fluff and little else.
Sandy Wexler
Writers:Dan Bulla, Tim Herlihy, Paul Sado, Adam Sandler
The greatest sin ofSandy Wexlerisn’t overt racism, sexism, or any other -ism you can think of, it’s simply that there’s no reason for this film to exist beyond fulfilling the contract obligations with Netflix. Sandler stars as the title character, an inept and annoying yet well-meaning talent manager who discovers a once-in-a-lifetime talent in Courtney, played by Oscar-winnerJennifer Hudson. You can probably guess where the basic plot goes from there and chances are good you’re not far off. It’s fine for a few laughs but the movie’s existence is just unnecessary.
Sandler’s character is like a mix betweenGilbert Gottfreidand The Lonely Island’s Creep. Or, for Sandler fans, a character with a voice caught somewhere between Little Nicky and Whitey fromEight Crazy Nights. If the voice alone isn’t enough to grate on your nerves over the course of the 131-minute runtime, Sandy’s jay-like cackle of a laugh certainly will. This is by design as Sandler’s real-life pals (too many cameos to list here) remark on the peculiar character of Wexler through a video-diary framing device. I much prefer this tactic rather than shoehorning all of his pals into the story itself.
Part love letter to the 1990s, Los Angeles, and Hollywood in particular,Sandy Wexlertakes a page fromForrest Gumpand incorporates archival footage into the on-screen narrative, sparingly though. Of course there are the requisite 90s jokes, like jabs at the “Dream Team” ofO.J. Simpson,Phil Spector, andRobert Blake, alongside a laundry list of 90s name-drops and commercial product placements. (The most egregious one is easily Boston Market, which supplies the victuals for a full dinner scene.) It aims to be a rags-to-riches tale of a hard-working 90s talent manager, but fumbles mightily to achieve anything of importance.
Surprisingly light on the gross-out gags (though a raccoon does meet a violent end), there’s some pretty dark humor at play here when things inevitably go south for Sandy. Sandler loves to play oddball characters with a heart of gold who are wronged by society in some way, only to win people over in the end. Sandy Wexler is stamped out of that same die.
Sandy Wexlerends much the same way other Sandler films end, with an unrealistic and perfect bowtie befitting his gold-hearted character. However, 90s fans might want to stick around through the credits, at least for a little bit, for a nod back to Sandler’s stand-up days and cameos from some fan-favorite characters.
The Longest Yard (2005)
Writers:Albert S. Ruddy, Tracy Keenan Wynn, Sheldon Turner
The Longest Yardis another one of those mid-level Sandler films that is only mildly offensive at worst and a tepid comedy at best. There was really no reason to reboot the 1974 Oscar-nominated comedy/drama starringBurt Reynoldsin the lead role, but here it is anyway. Reynolds turns in a supporting role alongside some of Sandler’s usual cast members likeChris RockandRob Schneider, but the main draw here is the boatload of pro athletes from both football and wrestling professions.
What’s not a draw, however, is howThe Longest Yardis mostly a shot-for-shot remake with the exception of cutting out the original’s darker comedy and at times brutal violence in order to feature Sandler’s brand of bathroom humor. It’s such an unforgettable flick that it honestly I’d completely lost all memory of it; it wasn’t even in my line-up until it popped up on a related Netflix search. If you want a sports comedy/drama, you can do better; this one’s only for devoted completionists.
Murder Mystery
Director:Kyle Newacheck
Writer:James Vanderbilt
Murder Mysteryis Sandler’s 2019 original Netflix offering and his latest cash-in on a free European vacation. Not that I blame him. Though the usual Sandler & Friends comedy crew is nowhere to be seen in this movie, he does get to reunite with leading ladyJennifer Aniston(Just Go with It) for a light-hearted comedy that includes exactly what its title promises: When NYPD sergeant Nick Spitz (Sandler) surprises his hairdresser wife Audrey (Aniston) with a European vacation they can’t afford, a series of unexpected events land them in the middle of high society … and as the prime suspects in the murder of a world-famous billionaire. Let’s break this down into the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, shall we?
On the good side, the cast is great and they’re having the time of their lives. Sandler and Aniston have an easy chemistry together that’s only been topped by the pairing of Sandler andDrew Barrymore; I’d be fine seeing either duo get together again in the future.Luke Evansgets to play a mysterious and charismatic viscount (who’s flying a commercial airline for some reason) oppositeTerence Stampas his ruthless billionaire uncle,Gemma Artertonas a flighty star of the silver screen, andJohn Kanias a one-eyed, one-handed colonel of questionable origin. Standouts includeDany Boon’s tropey Interpol inspector (with amazing smoke rings that I hope aren’t digital creations) andÓlafur Darri Ólafsson’s growling bear of a bodyguard. They’re all having a blast in Italy and it shows. Additionally, it’s nice to see Sandler as the everyman character thrown into a world of upper-crust socialites, something he hasn’t done since his heyday.
As for the bad, while the plot of the “mystery” has fun and funny moments in the middle, the dialogue is ham-fisted and exposition-heavy on the ends. There’s not really much here to chew on and the mystery whodunit hook is a bit of an afterthought. That’s a shame because the cast is all-in on the premise, butAgatha Christiethis is not. It even wastes the opportunity to let Sandler bumble around a bit a la Clouseau, opting instead to repeatedly make fun of his character’s inability to shoot straight or pass the detective exam.
Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh
Not technically a movie at all,Adam Sandler: 100% Freshis indeed a Netflix Original. The streaming service and the veteran comedian have a long history of successful collaborations, and likely a lucrative future ahead of them. Personally, I no longer see the appeal in Sandler’s brand of comedy which has grown stale, increasingly weird and disconnected, and just downright unfunny. But I’m in the minority here as Sandler still has millions of fans around the world.
The funniest moments are the ad libs and bloopers that are part of the fun of seeing a live show, along with some of Sandler’s anecdotes about his childhood, whether they’re real or not. (There’s also the reveal of weird quirks, like the fact that Sandler apparently doesn’t like audiences clapping along in time with his songs.) And regardless of how I feel about his current comedy shtick, Sandler is still one of the great musical comedians in history. He does his best to deliver original songs in different musical styles like something approaching “The Lonely Island.” Unfortunately, his material hasn’t evolved or matured beyond his 12-year-old target audience to deliver something fresh and original. He can afford to get away with this lazy approach since the sold-out arenas and club venue audiences continue to eat it up.
If these same jokes and songs were performed by any other comedian in the world in any other venue, you would likely hear a pin drop. Oddly enough, the special proves this idea out when Sandler and his accompanying piano player set up a session in the subway, only to have the majority of people hurry past. And part of the Cult of Sandler is having his comedian buddies show up and join the fun, so you can expect a cameo or two as the special goes along.
While Sandler surely earned his laughs in this comedy tour, like any other special of this sort, the amped-up laugh track and editing choices certainly make it seem funnier than it is. There are genuine laughs, for sure, but they’re few and far between in this disjointed, sporadic, and sometimes bizarre comedy special. But hey, at least it’s not as offensive as some of the other entries on this list.
