The unwritten law from the Ben Stiller Book of Comedy, is Play It Straight and They Will Laugh; and Woody Allen will tell you that Less is More. Unfortunately, neither Stiller nor Allen were involved with this movie, which in the final analysis, is much `less.' As in `witless,' `tasteless' and `humorless.' Oh, it'll make you laugh at times, but you'll hate yourself in the morning for it. Simply put, in regards to credible comedy, `Little Nicky,' directed by Steven Brill, comes in somewhere near the bottom of the food chain, cinematically speaking. One of the running gags in this film has Nicky responding metaphorically to whomever, when they ask where he comes from, `The south-- the deep' south--' Which is somehow ironic, because that's exactly where this kind of humor seemingly originates, and belongs.
Satan (Harvey Keitel) has come to the end of his ten-thousand year reign in Hell, and has called together his three sons, Adrian (Rhys Ifans), Cassius (Tom `Tiny' Lister Jr.) and Little Nicky (Adam Sandler), to announce which of the three he has chosen to succeed him as ruler of the Nether world for the next ten-thousand years. Suffice to say that his decision is not well received by the boys, however-- at least not by Adrian and Cassius, who rebel by bolting from this most southern of regions to take up residence in the topside world of the mortals, the souls of whom it is their inherent duty to corrupt. But in so doing, they inadvertently freeze the fire at the gates of Hell, rendering them impassable to all the fallen souls who would enter there; and so it is destined to remain until the two return, which they are not likely to do of their own accord. The situation quickly takes it's toll on the health of Satan, who in his suddenly weakened state is unable to pursue the errant pair himself, and since only a spawn of Satan can match up to another spawn of Satan, the job falls to Little Nicky-- the only other one around who meets the criteria-- who is summarily dispatched to earth to collect his brothers and bring them back down to Hell, whereupon the fire will be rekindled, the gates reopened, and all will once again be...well...'bad.' It's a tough assignment, though, as Nicky's brothers have the ability to possess anyone in the world they so choose, which will make identifying them something of a problem. Not to worry, however; Satan is providing some help for Nicky-- a dog named Mr. Beefy (voice of Robert Smigel), who has experience among the mortals, and will be able to help Nicky negotiate what to him will be virgin territory. And with that, Nicky is off on his quest-- and the laughs begin. Not!
The story itself is a flight of fancy, a fantasy, which on paper at any rate probably had some possibilities; if only it had been placed in more capable hands. Brill was given a golden opportunity to deliver a movie with some real snap and zing to it, but he dropped the ball, big time, and instead presents the material with little imagination, and the result is a very basic what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of film. There's just nothing beneath the surface at all. Sure, it's a comedy (and that's debatable), but even a film that's not supposed to be taken seriously has to have some substance to it, and this one does not. It almost seems as if Brill approached the project with the attitude that Adam Sandler's presence, alone, would make whatever he put up on the screen work. Bad miscalculation. Scenes that could have been clever, or at least mined for some real humor, are for the most part simply crude, and in most cases lack any redeeming merit whatsoever. His biggest mistake, though, was putting all his eggs in one basket by expecting Sandler to carry the day (and the film) just by showing up. He apparently didn't understand that Sandler is an actor who needs a director who can keep him on task-- he needs direction, and plenty of it-- and he didn't get it from Brill.
Sandler has been better-- much better; as Robbie, in `The Wedding Singer,' for instance, or even as Bobby, in `The Waterboy.' Both films in which he created a character that was at least credible or viable within the context of the story. But his `Nicky' just doesn't get the job done, because he fails to even really create a character at all, but instead `plays at' creating a character, which is something else entirely. Someone-- and the most likely suspect would be Brill-- should have told him that merely contorting his face and exaggerating the perpetually pubescent whine in his voice is not what it takes to `create' a real character. And, regardless of the genre in which the actor is playing, it's absolutely essential that the character he presents is real and believable within the environment and the setting of the story. If he's playing a devil in Hell, that devil had better be real, or it's simply not going to work; and this film proves it. And lowering the bar to go after cheap laughs can't save it, either.
The supporting cast includes Rodney Dangerfield (Lucifer), Patricia Arquette (Valerie), Peter Dante (Peter), Jonathan Loughran (John), Dana Carvey (Referee), Jon Lovitz (Peeper), Kevin Nealon (Gatekeeper), Michael McKean (Chief of Police), Quentin Tarantino (Deacon) and Reese Witherspoon (Holly). A real artist will earn every laugh he gets, and it's genuine; it's something real, and it's worthwhile. This film generates some laughs, to be sure-- but they're not earned, and consequently, they're plastic, and they're disposable. And yes, there IS a difference. Any doubts, just ask Ben Stiller or Woody Allen. Or Steve Martin; or Lucille Ball, Joan Davis, Red Skelton or W.C. Fields. And while you're at it, maybe you can pass on what you learn to Adam Sandler. It may help. 1/10.
Satan (Harvey Keitel) has come to the end of his ten-thousand year reign in Hell, and has called together his three sons, Adrian (Rhys Ifans), Cassius (Tom `Tiny' Lister Jr.) and Little Nicky (Adam Sandler), to announce which of the three he has chosen to succeed him as ruler of the Nether world for the next ten-thousand years. Suffice to say that his decision is not well received by the boys, however-- at least not by Adrian and Cassius, who rebel by bolting from this most southern of regions to take up residence in the topside world of the mortals, the souls of whom it is their inherent duty to corrupt. But in so doing, they inadvertently freeze the fire at the gates of Hell, rendering them impassable to all the fallen souls who would enter there; and so it is destined to remain until the two return, which they are not likely to do of their own accord. The situation quickly takes it's toll on the health of Satan, who in his suddenly weakened state is unable to pursue the errant pair himself, and since only a spawn of Satan can match up to another spawn of Satan, the job falls to Little Nicky-- the only other one around who meets the criteria-- who is summarily dispatched to earth to collect his brothers and bring them back down to Hell, whereupon the fire will be rekindled, the gates reopened, and all will once again be...well...'bad.' It's a tough assignment, though, as Nicky's brothers have the ability to possess anyone in the world they so choose, which will make identifying them something of a problem. Not to worry, however; Satan is providing some help for Nicky-- a dog named Mr. Beefy (voice of Robert Smigel), who has experience among the mortals, and will be able to help Nicky negotiate what to him will be virgin territory. And with that, Nicky is off on his quest-- and the laughs begin. Not!
The story itself is a flight of fancy, a fantasy, which on paper at any rate probably had some possibilities; if only it had been placed in more capable hands. Brill was given a golden opportunity to deliver a movie with some real snap and zing to it, but he dropped the ball, big time, and instead presents the material with little imagination, and the result is a very basic what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of film. There's just nothing beneath the surface at all. Sure, it's a comedy (and that's debatable), but even a film that's not supposed to be taken seriously has to have some substance to it, and this one does not. It almost seems as if Brill approached the project with the attitude that Adam Sandler's presence, alone, would make whatever he put up on the screen work. Bad miscalculation. Scenes that could have been clever, or at least mined for some real humor, are for the most part simply crude, and in most cases lack any redeeming merit whatsoever. His biggest mistake, though, was putting all his eggs in one basket by expecting Sandler to carry the day (and the film) just by showing up. He apparently didn't understand that Sandler is an actor who needs a director who can keep him on task-- he needs direction, and plenty of it-- and he didn't get it from Brill.
Sandler has been better-- much better; as Robbie, in `The Wedding Singer,' for instance, or even as Bobby, in `The Waterboy.' Both films in which he created a character that was at least credible or viable within the context of the story. But his `Nicky' just doesn't get the job done, because he fails to even really create a character at all, but instead `plays at' creating a character, which is something else entirely. Someone-- and the most likely suspect would be Brill-- should have told him that merely contorting his face and exaggerating the perpetually pubescent whine in his voice is not what it takes to `create' a real character. And, regardless of the genre in which the actor is playing, it's absolutely essential that the character he presents is real and believable within the environment and the setting of the story. If he's playing a devil in Hell, that devil had better be real, or it's simply not going to work; and this film proves it. And lowering the bar to go after cheap laughs can't save it, either.
The supporting cast includes Rodney Dangerfield (Lucifer), Patricia Arquette (Valerie), Peter Dante (Peter), Jonathan Loughran (John), Dana Carvey (Referee), Jon Lovitz (Peeper), Kevin Nealon (Gatekeeper), Michael McKean (Chief of Police), Quentin Tarantino (Deacon) and Reese Witherspoon (Holly). A real artist will earn every laugh he gets, and it's genuine; it's something real, and it's worthwhile. This film generates some laughs, to be sure-- but they're not earned, and consequently, they're plastic, and they're disposable. And yes, there IS a difference. Any doubts, just ask Ben Stiller or Woody Allen. Or Steve Martin; or Lucille Ball, Joan Davis, Red Skelton or W.C. Fields. And while you're at it, maybe you can pass on what you learn to Adam Sandler. It may help. 1/10.