Just Films & That is a podcast that celebrates underrated and underseen films. In this episode, Josh chose the Adam Sandler comedy drama Big Daddy from 1999. He reckons this one deserves a lot more love. What do you think? You can listen to all full episodes of Just Films & That now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 "His girlfriend dumped him for someone else."
00:03 "I found someone."
00:04 "This old guy?"
00:05 "He has a five year plan."
00:07 "What is it, don't die?"
00:09 Big Daddy is a film from 1999 starring Adam Sandler who plays a guy called Sonny who is
00:15 struggling to mature and grow up as he's entering his 30s but then all of a sudden
00:20 he finds himself taking care of a young child.
00:23 So Josh you picked this one so tell us a bit about why you picked it.
00:25 Yeah I picked this one because I think it deserves a little bit more love than it got
00:30 at the time.
00:31 Listen Adam Sandler can be quite polarising, he's made some good films, he's made some
00:34 bad films but I think this is probably one of his better efforts in terms of that comedy
00:38 sort of drama balance.
00:40 So if you look at the scores then at the time of recording it gets a 6.4 on IMDB, the audience
00:45 on Rotten Tomatoes give it 74% which is quite high and the critics on Rotten Tomatoes give
00:50 it 39%.
00:52 So if you work out the average it's 59% or 5.9 out of 10.
00:57 I think that's low for me but then equally I have a lot of affection and nostalgia for
01:02 this film but anyway had you seen this one before what did you think?
01:06 I hadn't seen it before but it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
01:09 I have a tendency to underestimate Adam Sandler.
01:12 I think some of my favourite things about this are just the story, the concept, how
01:16 everything unfolds and that all the characters actually feel like real people.
01:21 We've spoken before about how we like the characters and the world of the film to feel
01:25 like it existed before the film started and then it will continue to exist after the film
01:29 ends and I really feel that with this and I think part of that is to do with Sonny being
01:34 so likeable in some ways but then so utterly flawed in other ways and it's interesting
01:40 that the ideas that he has about the world can be really helpful in learning how to parent
01:44 but then also really detrimental.
01:46 Like he doesn't know how to set boundaries for the child but then also because he's so
01:50 relaxed he creates an environment where Julian who is the child can completely be himself
01:55 and he feels like he's got a lot of freedom and I really did like that element of it.
01:59 It's got a real emotional journey at the heart of this film and I really like that.
02:03 It's got a good balance.
02:04 It is really really funny but it's also quite heartwarming in places, quite sad and emotional
02:09 in places.
02:10 There is a real tragic undertone as to why Julian the little boy is staying with Sonny
02:14 in this and I think you get to see both the main characters, both Sonny, Sandler's character
02:19 and Julian the little boy go on a real emotional journey.
02:23 I think the main thing that I didn't really get on board with was how misogynistic and
02:26 how offensive Sonny could be to some of the female characters.
02:30 Now I'm all for different types of humour, controversial humour, whatever.
02:34 If it's a well executed and actually funny and sophisticated joke I'm here for it but
02:40 a lot of the shots he was taking at the female characters were just really cheap and overdone
02:44 and I was just a bit bored with it by the end.
02:46 So overall then, is 59% and 39% for the critics.
02:50 What do you think?
02:51 Is that underrated?
02:52 Does it deserve a little bit more love?
02:53 Are you going to let me have this one?
02:54 So it didn't blow me away but I definitely don't agree with that critic score.
02:58 I think that's way too harsh.
02:59 So yeah, I reckon Big Daddy is underrated.
03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]