Jack and Jill

I like many others, have doubts regarding Adam Sandler movies. Often they end up being pretty funny regardless of how stupid they seem. Then there’s Jack and Jill. In most critics’ minds this spectacle already failed once the premise had been explained. But I will do my best to be objective. The film’s titular characters are both played by Adam Sandler. Jack is a successful businessman, who lives the life in California, with his wife and children. Jill however lives alone in the Bronx with no family after the passing of her mother and seemingly has no friends. But when Jill comes to visit, the two get in many fights because of how annoying Jill is. Though every time she’s about to leave, Jack feels bad and invites her to stay longer. It really is quite the premise.

One of the first things I notice about Sandler’s Jill voice is that it’s quite similar to the one he uses for the monkey in Zookeeper. After that it becomes quite apparent that an actual actress would never have played the Jill character. It would be too rude to subject someone to that kind of torment. So it makes sense Sandler does it himself.

An aspect overlooked when judging the stupidity of Sandler films is their potential appeal to younger audiences. Jack and Jill has many moments intended for kids (fart jokes.) Then for adults, there are a number of celebrity cameos that bring about some chuckles. Johnny Depp has a funny scene with Al Pacino, who is actually a main character in the film. Then everyone from Regis Philbin to former football player Michael Irving is given a line or two. Don’t ask me how they do it, but the audience actually feels sympathetic toward Jill in the film. Yes, that is the character played by Adam Sandler in drag. The movie is by no means good, but I dare say there’s been worse. (5.0 out of 10)