Everybody, it seems, loves Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler isn’t doing interviews. The actor-comic, who will perform Monday at the Spokane Arena, is selling out massive halls around the country so all of his chatter emanates from the stage.
It’s a shame since Sandler is a fascinating subject. I had been hoping to chat with Sandler since writing a feature for the now-shuttered magazine Stuff on “The Longest Yard” reboot in 2004.
While interviewing Burt Reynolds, who co-starred with Sandler in “The Longest Yard” remake, the conversation shifted to Sandler, who portrayed a quarterback. “Am I going to have to watch Sandler throw punts for 90 minutes,” I asked Reynolds.
Reynolds, who played college football at Florida State, was believable as a football player but Sandler as a gridiron guard screamed pure fantasy. I told Reynolds that Sandler looked more like a waterboy than a quarterback. But Reynolds countered by emphasizing that looks are deceiving.
“He’s terrific,” Reynolds said. “Adam’s a terrific all-around athlete. I watched him play street basketball. He’s a good golfer. He never played high school football and he hadn’t really thrown a football before ‘The Longest Yard.’ Adam’s a pocket passer. He’s not going to run around. He made no bones about the fact that he doesn’t want to get hit. But he pulls it off. He asked me what to work on. I told him that when you get in the huddle with guys, who really played ball, like (former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver) Michael Irvin, they’ll ask for the ball. You have to tell Michael Irvin to shut up. Once you get that part down, the passing will be easy. Adam took command in the huddle.”
There were a few former NFL stars in the film, who intended to drill Sandler, such as former Oakland Raider Bill Romanowski. “On the first day Bill Romanowski said, ‘I want a piece of Sandler,’ ” Reynolds said. “ ‘I want to take his ear home to my wife.’ I explained to him, ‘Well, Bill he has three (stunt) doubles. When Adam goes back to pass and you get near him, he’ll scream and they’ll yell ‘Cut!” and put the double in. What you do is hurt the doubles until they take them all off the field Then you’ll have Sandler.’ I’m doing this all tongue in cheek, and what happens? An hour later, they’re carrying Adam’s double off on a stretcher. Three cracked ribs.”
After catching Sandler in the enjoyable 2022 film ‘Hustle,” in which he plays a NBA scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, I interviewed actor-comic Jamie Kennedy.
I told Kennedy I enjoyed the film but had a hard time believing Sandler as a former point guard at my alma mater, Temple University. “Adam is a really good basketball player,” Kennedy said. “It’s the truth.”
Like the late Robin Williams, Sandler is a comic actor who excels in dramas. The former member of the “Saturday Night Live” cast is terrific in the 2019 film “Uncut Gems,” as a New York jeweler and gambling addict. Sandler steals scenes in 2017’s “The Meyerowitz Stories,” particularly for his scenes with Dustin Hoffman, who plays his father. Sandler is also worth catching in the 2004 dramedy “Spanglish.”
And then there are his Happy Madison productions. Sandler became a star courtesy of such sophomoric films as 1995’s “Billy Madison,” 1996’s “Happy Gilmore” and 1998’s “The Waterboy.” Those films were co-written with Tim Herlihy.
I once asked David Spade to detail the key to Sandler’s success. “Adam just keeps throwing stuff up onto the wall and some stuff just sticks,” Spade said. “He works hard.”
Sandler has committed to so many projects that he doesn’t get to tour that often.
Sandler has a couple of platinum plus albums with comedic songs, such as “The Chanukah Song” and “The Thanksgiving Song.” Sandler’s massive fan base clamors for tickets since the live shows allow his faithful to connect with the engaging entertainer, who is a unique success story.