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hat makes someone laugh is an extremely personal and specific thing for that individual. We all have our own brand of humor that we are drawn to and enthused by. What makes one person laugh uncontrollably can have virtually no effect on another person. All those factors make it difficult, if not impossible, to critique or analyze a specific comedian or brand of humor. If laughter can be measured and prioritized, Adam Sandler’s career may be the best example of how comedy can appeal to some and alienate others.
trying to impress his haters with his take umbrage with his shtick. His comedic antics. His style of humor most popular characters and bits on has never really altered over the Saturday Night Live are definitely in years despite the venom so many tune with the kind of movies he’s been throw his way. That commitment making for the past 20 years. Some to his performing sensibilities is of his popular personas on the sketch program included Iraqi Pete, Cajun Man, commendable, but it is also quite Opera Man and Canteen Boy. Character lucrative. The average film fan—not the ones who write their critiques online descriptions aren’t really needed when or in newspapers—seem to have no it comes to his SNL alter egos; their qualms with the work Sandler has names pretty much explain everything been putting out over the decades. you need to know about them. Cajun Those fans show their support by Man is going to make you laugh consistently buying tickets to films his because he’s Cajun and Cajun accents detractors find foolish. Why should he are funny. It’s pretty much that simple and you will either love the bit—or hate alter his style when millions of ticket buyers approve of what he’s doing? it—because of that simplicity. The average Sandler comedy makes The bulk of his cinematic characters over 80 million dollars at the box office are as unpretentious as his and all his films combined have made sketch characters once were. His well over 2 billion dollars. performances in The Waterboy, The To be completely fair to Sandler he has Wedding Singer and Happy Gilmore demonstrated a willingness to stray aren’t going to earn him comparisons from his theatrical silliness at times. to Marlon Brando, but that was never He has starred in the dramatic films what Adam was going for. It’s pretty Funny People, Punch-Drunk Love and obvious that he isn’t concerned with
No. 084 THE STNDRD LIFESTYLE - THE ARTIST ISSUE
He has been making crowd favorite movies for nearly 20 years now and shows no signs of stopping. Moviegoers have completely embraced his silly and often juvenile sense of humor and that has allowed him to become one of the highest paid actors working. Critics on the other hand have been much more selective with their praise and support for Sandler’s lucrative celluloid shenanigans. It would be hard to find many Sandler comedies that the majority of critics didn’t find subpar and at the same time it’s quite difficult to find films of his that didn’t do extremely well at the box office. So whose perception of the funnyman is most accurate? The critics or ticket buyers? What truly matters the most— critical acclaim or blockbuster figures? Sandler got his first major taste of stardom at comedy’s cathedral for nearly 40 years now, Saturday Night Live. His brand of humor has stayed consistent all these years and that may be why many comedy elitists
Spanglish over the course of his career. All those films had comedic elements but they definitely were departures for the funnyman. He wasn’t able to rely on his usual broad comedic bag of tricks when it came to those more somber productions. Critics have definitely been far more supportive and encouraging of his dramatic feats than anything he has done solely for the sake of laughter. The box office receipts aren’t nearly as robust for his dramatic work as they are for his lighter projects and that may be why we don’t see him doing dramatic work all that often. Some of his past melodramatic work actually had many “experts” anticipating Oscar nominations for Adam Sandler, but unfortunately that never came to fruition. An academy award win, or even a nomination, is still the highest form of compliment you can give an actor. The Oscars have been notoriously sheepish when it comes to bestowing recognition on laugh makers. There is an odd unspoken theory in
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