Film Review: “Jack and Jill”

Sandler plays both leads in questionable career move

By Rich Flora

Posted on Nov. 17, 2011, at 12:37 a.m.

It’s a safe bet to say moviegoers will leave Adam Sandler’s newest film, “Jack and Jill,” unamused.

Jack, played by Sandler, is a successful Los Angeles advertiser whose boisterous, off-the-wall twin sister Jill, also played by Sandler, comes to visit for Thanksgiving.

Jill repeatedly embarrasses Jack and creates turmoil with every step she takes and every word she says. She decides to stay until the end of Hanukkah, driving her brother insane the whole time.

At a Lakers game, Jill attracts the attention of Al Pacino, who makes numerous appearances throughout the film. Coincidentally, Jack needs Pacino for a new Dunkin’ Donuts commercial, so he uses his sister’s appeal to lure him in.

Sandler’s sense of humor is apparent throughout the entire film, giving a few cheap laughs, but he leaves us to ponder what he was trying to prove and how certain scenes could appear humorous to anyone.

Sandler possesses the natural ability to make others laugh through stupidity, evident in previous films like “Billy Madison” and “The Waterboy.” However, in “Jack and Jill,” Sandler passes his sense of humor into his Jill character, diluting the overall humor and style that have made many of his previous films a success.

Katie Holmes plays Sandler’s wife, Erin, and constantly appears to be lost. Holmes tends to stay back, remain quiet and deliver lines with a bizarre mixture of monotone and emotion. Holmes comes up short, causing doubts about whether she even read the script.

Like all Sandler films, this movie does possess juvenile comedy, crude and political humor, ethnic jokes and many gags regarding Jill’s “lady parts.” While these devices somewhat serve their purposes, it isn’t enough to make up for the mediocrity of the film.

Speaking of lady parts, there is no comedy in the concept of fraternal twins played by the same guy. While Jill is supposed to look like Sandler with a fake chest, a wig and heavy makeup, the humor is lacking and this choice proves to be a terrible way to start out an even more horrendous movie.

This film is also edited with extreme carelessness. Most of the “funny” clips in the film’s trailer play out within the first 15 minutes. The flow and plot development, if there even is any, is awkward and scenes tend to skip around.

Perhaps the best part of this film is the appearance of Pacino, who pokes fun at his greatest works, such as “The Godfather” and “Scarface.” Pacino falls in love with Jill and shows it through short bursts of emotion, creating a funny atmosphere. However, as soon as Pacino exits the screen, so does any amusement.

As in most Sandler films, there is the usual assortment of celebrity cameos, including Johnny Depp, Regis Philbin, Drew Carey, Bruce Jenner and David Spade, who interestingly enough, plays a more convincing woman than Sandler. The film also pokes fun at Subway’s Jared Fogle and Vince Offer of the ShamWow! advertisements.

If you enjoy the crude humor prevalent in Sandler’s previous works, save yourself the money and the hour and a half it takes to view this film. It is best to remember Sandler as the funny, charismatic actor he is — or once was.

This movie completely missed any mark. The plot was unamusing, poorly developed and choppy. At the end, Pacino — regarding the new Dunkin’ Donuts commercial he stars in — says, “Burn this. All copies must be destroyed. No good.”

All we can hope is that he’s really referring to this film.

Grade: D

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2011, 12:37 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.