Eight Crazy Nights

Movie Title: Eight Crazy Nights
Official Website (it might still work): Eight Crazy Nights
Rating (out of 10): 3
Reviewed By: Michael Stevens
Buy the: Video/DVD \| Soundtrack
The Review:

Holy crap! What the Hell is going on? Cussing and cursing in a cartoon about Christmas? What the fuck, this isn't Southpark. Oh ya, that's right, it's Adam Sandler. From the man who has brought us Mr. Deeds, Little Nicky, Big Daddy, The Waterboy, and many other crass movies, comes Eight Crazy Nights (a reference to Hanukkah). This holiday film does have a moral, but I doubt that is why Mr. Sandler wrote, produced, and lent his voice to it. It all has to do with Adam's often-immature sense of humor. I too used to like Sandler's humor back when he was on SNL, but since then I have managed to grow up (many will argue the opposite), but Adam Sandler has not.

The movie focuses on Davey Stone (Sandler), a troubled adult in his late twenties that used to be a great kid and basketball player. Then we learn that when he was about twelve his parents were killed, which jaded him for life. He no longer cared about bball, or the girl he loved, Jennifer (Jackie Titone, Sandler's fiancé), which has set him on a course of self-destruction. This primarily involves drinking, which has kept him in constant trouble with the local cops. So he starts this holiday season off with a rampage through town that ends with the destruction of the town's giant ice Christmas tree and Menorah. Apparently this is the last straw as the judge wants to sentence Davey to the state penitentiary, but local nice guy Whitey Duvall (also Sandler) steps in and offers to watch over Davey by turning him into a referee in the local Jewish youth basketball league (where Davey used to be a star, no pun intended). Of course Davey doesn’t want to go good and continues to be a real jackass, except when it comes to a young kid named Benjamin (Austin Stout, Tomcats). Benjamin turns out to be Davey’s old girl Jennifer’s son, and she is now available after her husband ran off. This still doesn’t turn Davey’s life around, but Whitey keeps trying along with his sister Eleanore (you guessed it, also Sandler’s voice). Will Davey straighten out his life, and will they sing a song about every fucking thing? By golly wow, he does and they do!

Besides all of Sandler’s close personal friends, a few others lending voices include Tyra Banks, James Barbour, Bobby Edner, Lucas Wilson, and Travis Tedford. Seth Kearsley directs the movie, but I’m guessing Sandler held all the power.

If you love Adam Sandler and everything he does, then you will like Eight Crazy Nights. However, if you like good movies like myself, then you won’t care for the film that much. Some of the shtick is funny, but even more of it is not funny. Plus most of the songs sound too alike. The final analysis is three couches out of the usual ten.