When I finished watching Adam Sandler's new Halloween-themed Netlfix comedy Hubie Halloween I sort of groaned and my wife asked me "well, what did you expect?" She's not wrong. Sandler has been cranking out subpar comedies for decades now, but for some reason I had slightly higher hopes for this one.
Part of it was the trailer, which promised a potentially genuinely scary horror comedy. Part of it was my affection for Sandler's earlier funnier films and my appreciation for his under-appreciated, brilliant work in 2019's Uncut Gems. I thought it my be just a notch above his recent string of misfires.
I had completely avoided Sandler's Netflix output. There was something depressing to me about watching this aging comedian, who we all know can do better, slumming it in vehicles alongside his old SNL buddies. And in many ways Hubie Halloween is more of the same.
Yet again Sandler is playing one of his stunted man child characters. He's a muttering, mumbling loser who is a self appointed sort of community watchmen who is obsessed with Halloween and naturally has to live with his adoring mother (played by a game June Squibb).
He's a relentlessly nice guy -- as we're constantly being told by his love interest played with no imagination or wit by the luminous Julie Bowen. The Bowen character is actually my biggest problem with this movie. Here she plays essentially the same two-dimensional character she played in Happy Gilmore, but at least there Sandler was played a character she might conceivably find attractive (at one point without irony she tells him he's the greatest person she's ever known). In this film, without explanation she worships Hubie and repeatedly throws herself at him until they inevitably get together.
There are a lot of other bits that don't work -- and some that do (Maya Rudolph is genuinely funny as a sexually unsatisfied wife) but it all doesn't really add up to much. What's frustrating is that the production values are quite good and there are even a couple moments that flirt with real scary tension which is what this movie needed.
If there were more real stakes Hubie's adventures would feel more exciting and original but instead we have to watch his character routinely get picked on (by a stacked cast which includes Ray Liotta) and humiliated in repetitive fashion.
I did have a few genuine laughs, especially early on when the film leans into more of its absurd quirky streak -- there's a cameo from Ben Stiller reprising his role as the demented nurse from Happy Gilmore that is very welcome but comes to nothing -- but once the 'plot' kicks in it's a strictly routine affair.
I simply don't know why Sandler is so risk-averse. Uncut Gems was a solid hit given its unconventional style and subject matter so it's not as if his fans will never forgive him for stretching outside his comfort zone. But he seems content to play simpletons, do pratfalls and have a lot of fun on set if not on screen.
This one is a family affair -- with his two daughters playing thankless supporting roles. And of course all the usual Sandler stock company (Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi and more recently Shaquille O'Neal) all show up to debase themselves. It's all watchable enough and not a total waste of time, but it's stupidly isn't sublime or infectious, it's just very matter of fact.
I wish Sandler would collaborate with a director who has a real vision or better timing -- even if it was for one of these broad comedies. But I suppose he'll just keep disappointing me until the roughly one time a decade he doesn't.
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