Release Date: April 11, 2003
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei
Directed by: Peter Segal
Written by: David Dorfman
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (crude sexual content, language)
Many will find it hard to resist seeing how the talents of Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson match up on-screen because the two actors have markedly different screen personas. But at the same time, the pair is quite similar: Both stars are famously known for playing loose cannons, and so their agreement to costar in a film called Anger Management is nothing short of genius.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite play out that well. For the most part, Adam Sandler remains set in his ways; he doesn’t change his style of humor for even the likes of Jack Nicholson (Sandler’s fans will be happy with that). Likewise, the same old cast of outrageous characters get trotted out once again to tell the same old crude jokes, as in any of Sandler’s other movies.
The majority of David Dorfman’s script is a series of random scenes that, collectively, will make people laugh, but individually are actually quite bizarre. Of course, that’s what makes watching films from Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, so fun to watch. Thinking is rarely required, and for a time, the audience can sit back and enjoy the adolescent humor for all its worth (or lack of same).
But while mass audiences may have settled for this five years ago, Adam Sandler has proven he has talents that extend beyond the range of the average “Saturday Night Live” alum -- see his brilliant performance in Punch-Drunk Love. And with the incomparable Jack Nicholson in the lineup, something more than typical Sandler shtick could have and should have been produced.
Sandler plays Dave Buznik, who goes into anger management therapy when a conflict with a flight attendant gets out of hand. He’s put in the care of Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), for weekly sessions with the likes of the flamboyantly gay Latino Lou (Luiz Guzman), a crazed sports fan named Nate (Jonathan Loughran), lesbian porn stars Stacy and Gina (Krista Allen and January Jones), and an ex-con called Chuck (John Turturro).
But then, after a few other misunderstandings (like the one that landed him in anger management in the first place), a judge orders Buddy to move in with Dave and watch his every move. Comic antics ensue as Buddy enforces his unorthodox methods on Dave around the clock.
Dave’s anger management group includes a sampling of the off-the-wall characters put through their paces in the film for audience amusement, and the results are amusingly predictable. The two lesbian porn stars have a long kissing scene, of course; another scene shows Dave and Buddy sharing the same bed with Buddy in the nude. And the movie’s climax hinges on a fart joke.
But Anger Management is really just a Who’s Who of stardom and celebrity, beginning with the leading pair of Sandler and Nicholson and ending with New York City icons like Rudy Giuliani, Roger Clemens, and Derek Jeter. Infamous angry men Bobby Knight and John McEnroe get their share of screen time, and Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, and Woody Harrelson also have cameos. Ultimately, it’s proof that, when the material falters, Hollywood’s backup plan is to pack as many A-listers into the film as possible.
The director, Peter Segal, has proven that he can strike comedic gold -- he did the third Naked Gun film, and gave another former “SNL” star, Chris Farley, his break in Tommy Boy. But he brings none of that to the table here, relying instead on Sandler and Nicholson to play themselves and hoping that the magic will result. But it never does; the audience is left hoping that the light laughs the cast does provide will turn into that wackier, more spontaneous comedy that characterized both Tommy Boy and Naked Gun 33 1/3.
In short, if you don’t like the humor that Sandler has trademarked in films like Billy Madison and Mr. Deeds, then this isn’t for you, and don’t reason with yourself that Nicholson’s presence will save the day. It doesn’t. But this film can be an enjoyable experience along the lines of Happy Gilmore’s rage and Big Daddy’s wholesomeness. If that sounds good to you, then Anger Management is what I prescribe.
-- Michael J. Eiff (eiff@email.arizona.edu)