Even as an animated cartoon character, Adam Sandler’s typical crude and obnoxious self manages to etch through the screen in his 2002 Hanukkah themed “Eight Crazy Nights.” Not to be confused with a typical cheer filled holiday movie, “Eight Crazy Nights” is a dour tale with barbaric humor that thoroughly earns and overtly flaunts its PG-13 rating.
Blending elements of traditional holiday themes with satire comedy and original musical numbers, “Eight Crazy Nights” ties Sandler’s popular shtick with an adult based plot. The result is a hodgepodge of unfunny antics that fill an otherwise solid story.
I don’t find Sandler to be funny a little bit, but what do I know? His movies and routines have earned him the fanfare of a large segment of the populous and inflated his bank account to levels that would make a drug dealing kingpin envious. Sandler takes full control in “Nights” serving as writer, producer, and voice of the three primary characters.
Narrated by Sandler’s fellow SNL cast mate Rob Schneider, “Eight Crazy Nights” tells the take of Davey Stone (Sandler) a disgruntled man who holds a deep rooted and bitter hatred for the holiday season and the happiness of others. After a night of binge drinking, Davey is arrested. In court, Whitey Duvall, an old youth center basketball referee intervenes. Rather than Davey being sent to jail, he is sent to work with Whitey at the youth center basketball court.
Whitey (also voiced by Sandler) is an overly kind and loving man, though the voice denoted to his character will drive you nuts within the first handful of minutes. Though Whitey isn’t Jewish, he celebrates all forms of holidays – including Hanukkah – and takes a genuine interest in the opportunity to help Davey.
In typical Sandler style fashion, the jokes are crass, vulgar, and generally boorish. Sandler is able to use his heritage as an excuse to drastically mock the Jewish stereotypes in a way that’s borderline offensive to anyone watching. While some gags can draw forth a chuckle, most are jejune toilet based trickery that only devout fans of Sandler can or will appreciate. The movie opens with the Davey character drunk and eructating. Every joke thereafter seems to end with sexual innuendo or the sounds of flatulation.
Despite the lack of humor, “Eight Crazy Nights” does have an interesting story. The feel good nature of Whitey is traditional and authentic. One great scene depicts a herd of deer helping him when his car gets stuck in snow. You’ll actually feel warm inside when they manage to free the vehicle. A bit freakish in appearance, Whitey has spent his entire life living with his stereotypical twin sister Eleanore, and both are characters that the viewer can’t help but feel sorry for.
Opposite Whitey is Davey, who comes across as just plain mean. From the opening to the end, you’ll literally hate Davey for the vast majority of the tale, a fact not readily employed in a seasonal offering. One scene depicts Whitey covered in liquid feces after Davey purposely sabotages an outhouse he is cleaning. Davey then freezes the fecal matter to the old man with a hose before referring to him as a “poopicle.”
Though the overall story is a decent one, the scatological and lewd jokes of Sandler bring the whole movie down. Many holiday themed stories focus on a character’s growth and maturation process, but Davey is just so reprehensible the story doesn’t succeed as it should.
by – Matt Christopher
