When first reading the announcement of the new deal with Netflix to produce 4 new movies that’ll air only on Netflix I was looking out for one key point as to whether or not a backlog of Sandler movies were coming to Netflix, the answer it seems is no which is why it’s disappointing one of the first reasons as to why the deal between Adam Sandler and Netflix is a mistake at least in my eyes.
Given that the new four movies will likely be produced by Sandlers company set up in 1999 Happy Maddison we’re not that convinced that his upcoming work will be all that great. Looking at the backlog which spans 34 titles, we can only highlight around a third of the titles which is actually worth watching. The reason is that Adam Sandler is so hit and miss and that’s not just my opinion many critics have all spoken about how the Happy Maddison library is often mediocre particularly when it comes to the latest set of movies its produced.
The most recent example is Bucky Larson : Born to be a Star which was the 2011 disaster and sets a landscape of the current releases which have either failed at the box office or more likely with everyone else. Admittedly, Sandler only took a backseat role in the movie by producing and co-writing in this movie but while it failed at the commercial box office it makes you wonder whether the deal with Netflix is to cover losses incurred in some bad movies in the past. After all we expect Netflix has offered budgets up front for these movies.
That of course, doesn’t mean it’s just movies without him starring is a disaster. Jack and Jill which was the 2011 movie where Sandler who played two roles and was an on-screen disaster. I personally was at the cinema and saw people in droves walking out midway through.
However in comparison to his earlier work including hits like Bid Daddy, Click, Anger Management, Mr Deeds and even Grown Ups to an extent you can see the clear difference in quality. But what I’m getting at here is that if the deal with Netflix includes movies continuing the downwards trend and the fact we may have one good movie out of the four which is on the way is a little concerning and honestly makes me question the judgement to spend Netflix’s hefty budget on these movies rather than creating another outstanding TV series such as House of Cards or Orange is the New Black.
What do you think? Are you optimistic for the four movies or a little more pessimistic towards the announcement? I’m personally not convinced.
Please Note : This is an opinion piece.
