There is something scarier than waking up in the morning and not having a President: a new movie starring Adam Sandler. Either you love the guy or you want to personally send him to hell. Both sides should be pleased then with "Little Nicky," his latest 90-minute fart joke. The same old puerile sense of humor is present and Sandler's home is that fiery place in the deep South.
If you don't like Sandler, you can stop reading this right now. The only thing "Little Nicky" will do for you is increase your hate. If you love him those feelings will most likely increase as well. For those in the middle, this is Sandler's worst outing to date.
America's favorite moron stars as the title character. He is the youngest son of Satan (Harvey Keitel) and an all-around dimwit. Nicky speaks with a lisp and walks like a hunchback. Despite his mental and physical limitations he is his father's favorite because of his general sweetness and gentleness.
But Satan is ready to retire. He has been ruling for 10,000 years and it's time to relax and enjoy life. Before he can call it quits he needs to choose his successor. Nicky has two older brothers, Adrian (Rhys Ifans) and Cassius (Tiny Lister). In addition to being cruel to Nicky, they each want to succeed their father. Nicky has no desire to rule hell.
Much to everyone's surprise (save for the viewer's) Satan decides that his sons aren't fit for the job and he will continue ruling. This doesn't sit well with Adrian and Cassius. They head north to New York and create chaos with the intention of ruling there since they can't rule in hell.
Nicky is the only one that can save mankind and his father (he slowly deteriorates until Adrian and Cassius return) so he heads to the Big Apple. Since it's his first time there a talking bulldog named Beefy is his tour guide.
Since his movies are so inexpensive (by Hollywood standards) and profitable. Sandler and company got a big budget this time and they throw a lot of fancy visuals and special effects at you. But they seem out of place in a Sandler comedy and look computer generated and fake, which they are. More is not more in this case.
The biggest problem in "Little Nicky" is Sandler himself. Nicky is an annoying and unlikable character. All traces of the star's slacker charisma and general appeal are gone. The lisp and the hunchback routine grow tiresome quickly. Sandler becomes his own worst enemy.
The supporting cast is full of modern comedic legends in small roles, and they do what they can to liven things up with only moderate success. Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey, Michael McKean and Rodney Dangerfield are all featured as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Quentin Tarantino and Reese Witherspoon.
Sandler co-wrote the movie with his buddies Tim Herlihy (his sixth Sandler film) and Steven Brill (who also directed), and undoubtedly they all had a great time making it. But that doesn't mean you will have fun. Despite being a Sandler vehicle, due to all the talent in front of the camera, it's almost shocking to report that "Little Nicky" is not very funny.
Grade: C
"Little Nicky" is now playing.
