The Ridiculous 6

53 Replies

For some reason, I like Adam Sandler. Even though his movies are atrocious. For every funny scene, there are three times as many that just don’t work. Despite his efforts to appeal to the shortest of attention spans, his movies are usually ironic culprits of the worst crime any film can commit. They’re boring.

Still, I like him. Maybe I’m biased by my fond memories of 90s Saturday Night Live or the first time I saw Happy Gilmore. Or maybe he just seems like a nice guy. Everyone around him seems to be having so much fun. And as juvenile and offensive as his humour can sometimes be, that classic Sandler grin can’t help but make us feel like he means us no harm. Besides, he’s a funny guy who throws so much at you that some of it is bound to stick. I don’t think there’s a single Adam Sandler movie that hasn’t made me laugh out loud at least a few times.

Until now. This week I watched Sandler’s Netflix Original The Ridiculous 6, which has to be a new low for him both as an actor and as a writer. Sandler, Rob Schneider, Taylor Lautner, Jorge Garcia, Luke Wilson, and Terry Crews all play brothers from other mothers who Sandler meets one by one while on a mission to rescue their father from a gang of thieves. They’re a ridiculously diverse group of brothers; Sandler was adopted and raised by Native Americans so naturally knows how to do all kinds of mystical shit, Schneider is half-Mexican with a horse that sprays you with shit to let you know that it likes you, Lautner is a simple-minded redneck with a missing tooth, Garcia doesn’t speak English and is good at strangling people, Wilson was Abe Lincoln’s bodyguard, and Crews is a piano-playing black guy and of course has a huge penis.

So, obviously it all feels dated, desperately banking on the hope that the stereotypes from Adam’s SNL days are still funny 20 years later. The injustices suffered by First Nations people have been a hot and controversial topic in Canada lately, making Sandler’s performance and the film’s depiction of the culture in general just seem wrong. I believe that a gifted comedian can get away with joking about almost anything but firmly believe that, if you’re going to take on such a sensitive subject, you’d better make damn sure at the very least that you’re funny. There’s nothing funny going on here.

Thank God we’ve got Taylor Lautner. Sandler going Native was a bad idea but he can’t help being at least a little likeable and, thanks to Lautner, he does not come close to giving the worst performance of The Ridiculous 6. Lautner’s hillbilly feels less offensive since southern white guys have been fair game for so long now but rarely have they been portrayed by an actor with so little charisma and sense of comic timing. It’s hard to watch him without wondering how no one close to him was ever able to talk him out of this.

If you still want to watch it, the good news is that The Ridiculous 6 is not all bad. While it never made me laugh, I might have managed a chuckle or too had I not been so irritated by the rest of the movie. John Turturro’s cameo featuring an early version of baseball nearly got a “nice job with that” from me and the usual cast of Sandler cameos show up as real-life historical figures occasionally made me smile despite myself. I hate to name specific actors or characters here because I wouldn’t want to spoil what little fun this movie has to offer.

53 thoughts on “The Ridiculous 6”

  2. Carrie Rubin

    Last night I was trying to get to Madmen on Netflix, and before I knew it, Ridiculous 6 started playing. Guess I clicked the wrong thing. I stopped it–not really interested in seeing it for the reasons you mention–but now it’s in my Netflix library. Great. I can’t wait to see what Netflix thinks I”ll like next.

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  4. Christopher

    I remember hearing a news story about this. Some of the Native Americans cast in the movie walked off the set in protest of the way they were being portrayed. Others wanted to but were torn between their conscience and their need for a paycheck–a choice no one should ever have to make. There was some discussion of satirizing stereotypes versus reinforcing them, but I think the consensus was that if the actors themselves don’t get the joke it’s probably not funny.
    But I also get liking Sandler. I know I’m gonna sound like a pretentious jerk for saying I loved Punch Drunk Love but the best part of it is Sandler played a nuanced, grounded version of some of the same SNL characters that made me laugh. And then I realized there was depth to those SNL characters.
    Plus “The Hanukkah Song”.

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    1. Matt Post author

      Wow, I hadn’t heard that. That sounds so demeaning. I think if you’re going to satirize stereotypes, you’d better make sure the audience is given some clue as to what you’re doing. I thought Team American did that very well.
      Hey, I like Punch Drunk Love too. I don’t know if that exonerates you as a pretnetious jerk though since I definitely am one. 🙂

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  5. BroadBlogs

    On liking Adam Sandler: maybe he just seems like a nice guy. Everyone around him seems to be having so much fun.

    Maybe that’s not a bad reason to watch his movies. When everyone is having fun maybe you just feel better?

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  7. Wendell

    Yeah, I’m going to try and avoid this one. Probably only a matter of time before someone in my family suggests this for a movie night because every time we open Netflix, lately, there it is. And my family loves Adam Sandler flicks, despite my best efforts to dissuade them. Ugh.

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      1. ninvoid99

        Exactly. I’m sometimes curious to see how bad things are and for some sick reason. I find myself wanting to see how much shit that I could take. I don’t know why but I have a sick pleasure of doing that to myself sometimes.

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      2. Matt Post author

        I’m glad too. I’d feel pretty rotten if I had made you spill your cofffee. That is a real movie though. He plays two parts- a relatively normal guy by Adam Sandler standards and the other his super obnoxious twin sister. I want to say it’s called Jack and Jill but I can’t be sure. Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’ll probably just make you mad.

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  13. A Tale of Two Dans

    One of the only Netflix originals I’m not planning to watch. Great to see a review from you again Matt. Even if it is a bad one. Do you think you’ll end up having time for a Christmas review?

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    1. Matt Post author

      If I didn’t have this site, I probably would have never watched it. I’d love to contribute to your 12 Days of Christmas but Christmas is coming fast and I’ve still got so much to do so it might be tough.

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      1. A Tale of Two Dans

        That’s all good. If you want just write something whenever you have time and we’ll post it as a retro review 🙂

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  14. Cathy Kennedy

    Jay, we have this one on our watch list. The trailer made this all-star cast interesting, but I have doubts about it because Adam Sandler routinely picks the worst movies. I appreciate your thoughts on this new Netflix original, though.

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  15. reocochran

    I will see this on a free library dvd. Just like Adam Sandler in “Bedtime Stories,” “50 First Dates” and the “Wedding Singer.” “Reign over Me” showed Adam’s serious side. 🙂

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    1. fatmilton

      mmm…ok…now I have to pick up a Sandler-sword…lol…50 First dates was probably his ONLY movie that I could relate to in any human (read…logical) sense. C’mon reocochan, “live a lil!”…lol 😉

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  16. Liz A.

    Uh, no. Just no. I haven’t seen an Adam Sandler movie in… Oh, I can’t say that I ever have. There’s something about his kind of humor that I don’t find funny.

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  21. DotedOn

    Hi Matt,
    I enjoy his movies because of what you said, everyone around him seems to be having a lot of fun. So while watching his movies, I imagine the actors laughing all the time and the scenes taking forever to film and that makes me smile. 🙂

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    1. Matt Post author

      Thanks for letting me know! I remember watching it thinking that getting to review it will be the only fun part of the experience.

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