8 Crazy Nights

Starring Adam Sandler
Screenplay by Brooks Arthur, Aaron Covert, Brad Isaacs and Adam Sandler
Directed by Seth Kearsley
website: www.eightcrazynights.com

IN SHORT: Filled with jokes as nauseating and disgusting as disgustingly funny plus a huge helping of emotional schmaltz in a last minute clutch at attaining warm fuzzies. [Rated PG-13 for frequent crude and sexual humor, drinking and brief drug references. 71 minutes]

Keeping in the spirit of things:

     On the eight day of Christmas, my father said to me...
     We've got no pine tree
     You're not a Christian
     Now Light a Candle
     or you get no presents
     for Cha-Nu-Kah!

and so forth... but, that being said PARENTAL WARNING: This movie is NOT appropriate for thirteen year old kidlets. We'd think twice, personally, if our kids were under 16.

As usual, Adam Sandler comes up with a main character who makes us want to puke while sideswiping us with supporting characters that are warm and fuzzy . He fills a script (helped by the names listed above) with just enough expletives (four) to keep a PG-13 Rating and enough jokes involving farting, belching and that lovely biological process which allows the expulsion of fecal material to turn our stomachs even while the kidlets around us laughed themselves blue in the balls . . . uh . . . faces. Other than that, the damned thing had us laughing more than it had us wishing we were somewhere else. Of course, we haven't been sixteen in close to thirty years so what the hell do we know about funny? If that's a backhanded compliment, then guilty as charged.

That being said, if you have no idea what Adam Sandler's Chanukah Song (any of its three editions) is and/or if you have no idea who Adam Sandler is, then you're probably not going to acquire a taste for his humor in less time than it takes for one of those jokes mentioned above. Frankly, when Sandler was on Saturday Night Live, it took us a couple of seasons before we cracked, too. The first edition of his Chanukah Song, filled with the names of Jewish celebrities who changed their names to not sound Jewish, took the cake.

That's not the focus of Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights, which is set in the small town of Dukesberry, Jewish population 5, maybe six. While all the households in town are preparing for the holiday of their choice, 33 year old Davey Stone (voiced by Sandler) is spending the evening getting drunk and skipping out on his restaurant tab at the town's Chinese restaurant. The town is used to it. The Judge (Norm Crosby) has been seeing Stone regularly for twenty years and he's fed up with the moron. Just before he can bring the gavel down on a ten year sentence, Coach Whitey (also Sandler) offers his guidance to try and redeem the putz. The Judge gives Whitey the opportunity. Davey doesn't want to hear about it and sets out to humiliate Whitey at every opportunity.

Eventually, Davey's nasty ways will come back to bite him on the ass and he'll find himself sleeping on Whitey's couch. Whitey shares a house with his sister Eleanor, and the pair offer up multitudes of jokes about fat people, short people, lonely people and epileptics. All Whitey is waiting for is recognition by the community of Dukesberry for his good works; that recognition being a patch to sew on his jacket, given at a holiday banquet that the entire town attends.

Davey the unredeemable will, of course, do one and only one thing to redeem himself by the time the film ends with sentimental schmaltz laid on thick and heavy. Sandler's SNL cohorts Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon and Jon Lovitz have bit parts and there's a herd of deer roaming through town doing good deeds for good people. Like rescuing short, fat people trapped in runaway porta-potties.

Did we mention the burping, farting and vomit jokes? How about the dump jokes? Just wanted to make sure . . .

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Ten Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to 8 Crazy Nights, he would have paid . . .

$3.00

rent unless you're a fan. Yeah, we didn't hate Eight Crazy Nights. If you were a fan of Sandler's early work, have to it. IF not, then don't bother.

Click to buy films starring Adam Sandler

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