User reviews

It's hard not to like "Big Daddy", though diehard fans of Adam Sandler may well cringe at this further step in the sentimentalization of the comic actor. For although this film has raised the hackles of a number of overly sensitive worrywarts for its seeming endorsement of permissive parenting, the film is, in reality, far more soft-hearted than hard-edged. Actually, this seems to be, probably, the wisest direction for Sandler to go in at the moment because, as an actor, he conveys an aura of genuine likability that fits well with his Average Joe persona. "Big Daddy" might have been a better film if it had not given in so easily to sentimentality and predictable emotional uplift, but Sandler's deadpan portrayal of an immature adult forced to grow up into responsibility-laden fatherhood makes the film relatively enjoyable.

Sandler portrays a 30-something loser living in South Manhattan, who has been milking a minor foot injury to the tune of a $200,000 court settlement and whose life, consequently, consists of miniscule employment, a general lack of direction, and a girlfriend who's ready to move on to an older man with a "5-year plan". When a little boy suddenly shows up on his doorstep (the hitherto unknown son of a friend of his), Sandler decides to temporarily take him under his wing in the hopes of winning his girlfriend back. Thus, a man with almost no resources of adult maturity attempts to instill skewed life lessons into a willing, highly impressionable young mind. This leads to Sandler's teaching the boy to indulge in predictable, but surprisingly timid, antisocial behavior such as urinating on public buildings, staying up late, tripping unsuspecting rollerbladers etc. The film is not always at its peak of creative freshness at such times, but Sandler's lowkey cynicism provides some humor.

As Sandler grows to care for his tot and the inevitable forces array themselves against him to take the child away, the film veers off in the direction of sappiness and maudlin tearjerking. One may be moved at times, but one also craves the satirical sharpness and bite that a more courageous screenplay might have provided.

The movie does display an enlightened view of gays (though Hollywood has yet to get past the point where gay characters can do more than merely twinkle at each other), but it loses points for its rather nasty tone towards old people. Still, any film designed to send Dr. Laura into spasms of psychoanalytical outrage should be respected and honored.

Overall, "Big Daddy" is a movie that, if it had taken more audacious pathways, might have been a firstrate comedy. As it is, it provides numerous chuckles and a cuddly warm feeling - and that, given the state of much of big screen comedy these days, is about all we dare allow ourselves to expect.

While all of the somphoric pre-teens will be giggling silly at the childish potty jokes shown in AUSTIN POWERS 2, the real adults will be laughing their heads off in a much funnier film called BIG DADDY. This is Sandler's sixth starring role feature, and it seems that the sixth time is a splending charm. This is Sandler's best work yet! Now in case you are wondering, I enjoyed both HAPPY GILMORE, and THE WEDDING SINGER. But there's something charming and wonderful on why I enjoyed BIG DADDY more. Perhaps it's seeing a over-grown kid taking care of a little boy. Or it's Sandler mixing his in your face attitude that he gave in HAPPY GILMORE with his soft-spot attiude from THE WEDDING SINGER. Whatever it is, it works, and it works very well! The simple plot of BIG DADDY is a 5 year old child is left on the doorstep of Sandler's apartment. It turns out to be the child of his roommate (Jon Stewart), who's on his way to China for a legal case. So what is Sandler to do, but to give him to the child protective service. But it's a holiday, and they are closed, so Sandler keeps him for a day, then another day, and... well you get the picture. But the plot doesn't matter much with this film, it's the laughs, and you do get plenty of those. But you also get a wonderful supporting cast. There's a good support from Jon Stewart, the always wonderful and beautiful Joey Lauren Adams, Leslie Mann, and Kristy Swanson (the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer). And what's a Sandler movie like if you don't have his usual character actor friends in small comic roles; Rob Schrieder, Steve Buscemi, Josh Mostel, Allen Covert (the caddy from HAPPY GILMORE who was also the limo driver friend in THE WEDDING SINGER), and Jonathan Loughran (the lazy-eyed football player in THE WATERBOY). There's even a funny cameo role by director Dennis Dugan, as the man who refuses to answer the door on Halloween, while Sandler is taking his adopted son trick or treating. This film was a lot more funnier that THE WATERBOY, it was also funnier than THE WEDDING SINGER and HAPPY GILMORE. It was believe it or not, more touching. You can understand why Sandler doesn't want to let this boy go, since he reminds him so much of himself. And Sandler sees that being a father figure isn't only fun, but it redeems himself from the lost of his girlfriend. I have to give both Sandler and director Dennis Dugan (the same director of HAPPY GILMORE) a round of applause. They teamed up for a comedy that is not only successful, but will make A LOT of money. Sandler and Dugan are the best comedian/director team since the late John Belushi and John Landis. I'm just hoping that they will continue to do films together in the futrue. Until then, take your date, your friends, or heck just go alone and enjoy one of the funniest comedies (next to ANALYZE THIS, ELECTION, and RUSHMORE) of this year. This is a wonderful treat! ****1/2 (out of five)

Big Daddy- Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) is the paragon of irresponsibility - he has no job, no manners, and no clue. Although Sonny has somehow managed to get a girlfriend, she is tired of his aimless ways, and gives him an ultimatum - do something with your life or I leave. Fate steps in with a ready-made 'solution': Sonny will raise the little boy who was dropped off at the apartment with a note proclaiming his roommate (Jon Stewart) the father, his girlfriend will realize his newfound responsibility, and all will be well.

Plausibility this movie doesn't have. But we are talking about Adam Sandler, the man who has given us such brainteasers as Happy Gilmore, and Billy Madison. Sandler's frat-boy humor - childish and, scatalogical - has however, drawn a huge following as evidenced by The Waterboy's huge box office, (a movie that I myself enjoyed and will surely be pilloried for).

I expected one thing from this movie - a good laugh. And it delivered. The obligatory tearjerker scenes were painful, but thankfully few and far between. If you are in the mood for some humor-light on cheap Tuesday, give this movie a chance.

I am not a Sandler fan in the least, in fact for the most part I do not enjoy his movies. Still, this one was a rather funny little comedy even if it did have a rather unbelievable premise. Guy loses girl, guy tries to get girl back by taking in a kid who may or may not be a friend of his kid. So aside from that you have your funny scenes of Adam trying to raise a small boy to the best of his ability while also getting the attention of a new female in his life. Granted some of the jokes were just lame such as Sandler dressing up as the boy's favorite toy, but for the most part the jokes were hits. It did tend to get a bit sentimental towards the end, but not as bad as other movies of this type tend to get. Jon Stewart is in this one as is Sandler buddies Rob Snider. Steve Bushemi is also in it, but his appearance in the movie is rather stupid. So for a rather good comedy that isn't really great, but not unbearable like many Sandler comedies can get try this one on for size.

Big Daddy- Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) is the irresponsible guy - he has no manners, and no clue. Although Sonny has somehow managed to get a girlfriend, she is tired of his aimless ways, and gives him an ultimatum - do something with your life or I leave. Fate steps in with a ready-made 'solution': Sonny will raise the little boy who was dropped off at the apartment with a note proclaiming his roommate (Jon Stewart) the father, his girlfriend will realize his newfound responsibility, and all will be well. Plausibility this movie doesn't have. But we are talking about Adam Sandler, the man who has given us such brainteasers as Happy Gilmore, and Billy Madison. Sandler's frat-boy humor - childish and, scatological - has however, drawn a huge following as evidenced by The Waterboy's huge box office, (a movie that I myself enjoyed and will surely be pilloried for). I expected one thing from this movie - a good laugh. And it delivered. The obligatory tearjerker scenes were painful, but thankfully few and far between. If you are in the mood for some humor-light on cheap Tuesday, give this movie a chance.

I Remember Loving Big Daddy as a Kid, and i still Do, It's a Load of Fun, The Twins are Cute, and it's Sandler's Best Movie! I Think it's one of the Best movies of 1999.

and The Sprouse Twins Prove It.

This is Really Fun to Watch! I'f you're Looking for a Good Comedy Movie I'd Highly Recommend Watching It.

Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) is an unemployed layabout who claims that he is unable to work due to an accident he had involving a cab from 2 years ago. Sonny is a self-absorbed individual who generally thinks of no-one but himself much to the annoyance of his girlfriend. However, when a 5 year old boy named Julian (Cole Sprouse) ends up on his doorstep, Sonny claims to have adopted Julian in order to try and win back his girlfriend and prove himself worthy of her affections. Whilst Julian is in Sonny's care, Sonny does some growing up himself in the midst of some rather questionable antics as a caretaker parent.

The marketing for this film was always questionable; the film poster shows Sandler and the boy standing in front of a door and urinating against it. In this respect it does itself no real favours as there may be many people that decide not to watch it because it looks like it's going to be crude and juvenile from the poster. In fairness this isn't completely inaccurate as there are some aspects of the film that are a bit juvenile and crude, but the actual bulk of the film is quite charming and sweet and fairly enjoyable and I'm just puzzled as to why a fairly sweet-natured film was marketed so poorly. Anyway I digress...

Sandler's comedy films have sometimes proved problematic because some of the characters he has portrayed have been unlikeable or unsympathetic. In Big Daddy though, as things progress it becomes fairly obvious that Sonny's actually an OK person that just needed a bit of a kick up the backside. Looking after Julian gave Sonny a purpose in life and as mentioned it gave him the kick up the backside that he'd needed for the last 2 years. The chemistry between Julian and Sonny was also really good and the two of them share both funny moments and tender moments - I thought that Sonny telling Julian that wearing sunglasses meant nobody could see him was a funny idea and quite sweet as well.

There are some weaknesses to this film; firstly a lot of the acting here is rather mediocre (although Steve Buscemi was good fun in the limited screen time that he was given). The film was also a little too light on laughs for my liking - although the warmth and charm of the picture compensate slightly for the slight lack of humour. The film also gets very soppy towards the end and I also found some of the character shifts to be a bit dubious. The script offers few surprises and is fairly predictable, but I always say it doesn't matter if you know outcome B at point A as long as you generally enjoy everything in between and that pretty much sums up my feelings about this film. It's hardly Oscar-worthy, but it has some funny moments, it has some charm, and it surprised me by being better than I expected it to be.

Some movies are made for us to ponder questions of morality and ethics. Some are made for us to question reality. Some are made for us to find ourselves.

This movie is not one of them.

This movie was made for one reason and that is to make us laugh. And it does that very well.

Sandler plays an incredibly irresponsible derelict that has no real job or ambition in life. He gets a kid left on is doorstep and he is forced to care for him. The story needn't be described any more than that, we all know what happens. But it is what this movie does to our senses that makes it worth while. In short, it makes us laugh hysterically. This film is a whirlwind of jokes and hilarity and when it stops to let you catch your breath it still entertains you. I admire films like this. They aren't meant to be Instinct or The Siege ( two films that I absolutely love ) but all it aspires to do is entertain you; take you away from life for 90 minutes. And let's face it. Sitting in a cool theater with a bag of M&M's, a cold Coke and a funny movie is a perfect way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.

This is a great movie and it will make you laugh. That's all it is, nothing more, nothing less. And we should be thankful for that.

Casting five year old twin boys as Adam Sandler's costars in this 1999 Columbia Pictures release was a very good idea. After all, Sandler's usual man-child character had to have somebody that he could relate to. Sandler portrays Sonny Koufax, a man who just might be the pure epitome of somebody who's not responsible. However, if that theory wasn't tested then there would be no film. In an effort to possibly win back his girlfriend (Kristy Swanson) who has left him because of his being irresponsible and has since taken up with another man, he offers to be a guardian for his traveling roommate's (Jon Stewart) son, Julian (portrayed by twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse). Agreeing to assume full responsibility for a child makes Sonny think that Swanson just might change her mind about leaving him. It doesn't happen and now child services won't let him return Julian. Sonny learns to grin and bear the situation by attempting to bond with Julian and in so doing, he gradually begins to feel more like an actual responsible father figure. Of course things get complicated when Stewart eventually returns home and a custody battle begins (Julian has grown attached to Sonny by this time). Even this dramatic seeming scene evolves into more adolescent comedy. Sandler's fans should enjoy this film but since I was never especially a fan of Sandler, I consider it to be just another crumbled up piece of paper in the sorry recent film comedy wastebasket.

On the whole, your typical Adam Sandler vehicle; this time his persona is put to use as an unlikely foster parent, completely out of his depth and still trying to slack his way through it. Naturally, he bonds with the kid, and I gotta be honest, that little guy really started to warm me over too. All of this begins to barrel towards something heartfelt and a satisfying finish seems certain . . .

And then the swindle really happens where nobody ends up where they should yet it's a happy ending for all. It shatters what goodwill has been generated thus far, and it's a genuine disservice to the movie's potential. It's a cheat and a major letdown.

Adam Sandler (The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer) has pulled off another hit with Big Daddy. Sandler stars as a lazy law-school graduate who won't take the bar exam. One day when his roommate goes on a business trip to China a child arrives at the day with a note claiming to be his roommate's son. Sandler takes the kid for a day and after having a good time decides to keep him to impress his girlfriend who doesn't think he's trying to grow up. His girlfriend dumps him and he's stuck with the kid. Not surprisingly Sandler isn't a good father, but soon he bonds with the kid and he learns how to be a good father. This might sound like a cheesy feel-good film, but with Sandler the humor is kind of low-brow, but often hilarious. The film does also offer a few touching scenes between Sandler and the kid. Sandler's performance was very funny, but reminded me a little of Jim Carrey's performance in Liar Liar. Liar Liar if you have seen it was a regular Carrey comedy, but offered a couple of serious scenes which Carrey pulled off well. Carrey then went on to do The Truman Show and win a Golden Globe. Sandler also has a couple of serious scenes which he nails well. I'm not suggesting that Sandler is going to become a great actor (like Carrey seems headed for) but he may have the skill to do it if he wants. Leslie Mann (George of the Jungle, The Cable Guy) and Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy, A Cool Dry Place) are both good as sisters. Jon Stewart (The Faculty, Playing by Heart) is solid as Sandler's roommate. Twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse are convincing as the kid. Finally, two favorites of mine have very funny supporting roles. Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, Armageddon) is good as a homeless friend of Sandler's. And Rob Schneider (Judge Dredd, Knock Off) is hilarious as an immigrant delivery man who is good friends with Sandler. Highly Recommended.

When I saw this movie on Crackle.com, I thought "Hey, Adam Sandler is funny, so I'll like this movie" After all, people love pre-2000 Sandler. Unfortunately, this movie is hardly funny. Most of the humor comes from how much Sonny (Sandler's character) fails at being a parent for Julian (his son). Basically, Sonny allows Julian to do whatever he wants. I'm fine with that if it's only for the humor. The problem is WHAT he allows Julian to do. Some examples are: peeing in public, covering all messes with newspaper, etc. You're probably saying "Well, Julian is only a little kid, he doesn't know that he's doing the wrong things" That's where you're wrong. Sonny is TEACHING him to do these things. At this point, I became steamed at how utterly dumb Sonny is, but the nail that seals the coffin is that once Julian goes to school, he does these things. Unsurprisingly, his teacher is not very happy. "Julian should've known not to do those things in SCHOOL, it's common sense, duh", you say. Allow me to repeat myself: SONNY TAUGHT JULIAN TO DO THOSE THINGS! And not once does Sonny tell him not to do it in school. Don't blame the kid, blame Sandler! At least Sonny teaches Julian the right things afterwards. Now when Social Services takes Julian away so they can take care of him until a new family comes by, most people would start crying, but I say "Thank God!"

Now let's get into the good parts of the movie. The other humor comes from Rob Schneider, who is treated as the comedy relief of the movie. The stuff they do to him is actually quite funny. Also, the movie does get better in the 2nd half. My favorite scenes are when Sonny and Layla are together. I'm not sure why I like those scenes, but I do.

Summary: The movie had potential to be funny, with Sandler being the idiot parent allowing the child to do whatever he wants, but it suffers greatly. Most of the humor felt nonexistent, though the movie got better in the 2nd half. Overall, if you're a die-hard Sandler fan, check it out, but everyone else should keep looking.

As a fan of Adam Sandler, I'm very disappointed. Sandler plays a slob who receives a five-year-old (Cole and Dylan Sprouse) at his doorstep and assumes the father figure role. Not a moment too soon does the little boy follows in Sandler's footstep from urinating in front of buildings to tripping over skaters to cursing. Like "The Waterboy," this sorry excuse for a comedy had a very strong opening at the box office. As someone once e-mailed me about my review of "The Waterboy" said, "quantity does not always equate quantity." In the case of "Big Daddy," he's right. I'm sorry, Mr. Sandler, but my evaluation: (no stars).

Good watch, could watch agian, and can recommeond.

While it's a typical Happy Madiosn / Adam Sandler, the importance of the child's welfare kind of balances it out as far as "seriousness" goes.

The humor stands up, even if some of it is problematic, but even then that was the point, to push boundaries.

It's a funny, charming movie that reminds of a time when I didn't like Leslie Mann, mostly because she got written into to some jerk roles, more than just being a straight man, like "vengeful woman" jerk, and even with her being "in the right" about it, she still comes off a a villain, in place of an antagonist other than "life".

The movie is exactly what the premise is: by horrible circumstance some kid gets stuck with Adam Sandler, comedy ensues. Nothing really special, but it's not bad even after 20 years.

For the most part, "Big Daddy" is the average Adam Sandler movie, with him as slacker messing with the status quo. But this one certainly does have some intelligence to it. Portraying Sandler adopting a boy (twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse), the movie certainly gives adoption a good name, even if it uses complete silliness to do so. It's mostly interesting how the movie shows that he has to mature more in the process of raising this boy.

One noticeable thing is the presence of Jon Stewart (I believe that this was before he started hosting "The Daily Show"). Also appearing are Adam Sandler regulars Josh Mostel, Allen Covert, Rob Schneider and Steve Buscemi, plus Joey Lauren Adams as Sandler's hubby. A really enjoyable movie.

In my opinion this is one of the best overall Adam Sandler movies. Not only is it funny and memorable but it also has some complexity and a good story line. Always worth watching it whenever it's on.

I must have seen this movie at least twice during my childhood and I liked it. Then I re-watched it last April and guess what? I still liked it in the same ways, and I think it's one of those movies that no matter how many years pass after you watch it for the first time, it's still great.

Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) is a loser that despite he is graduated hasn't got a job and has problems with his girlfriend Vanessa, and shares an apartment with a friend named Kevin that is his total opposite: has a job and is soon to be married. One day, after leaving Kevin to the airport, Sonny receives a visit from a 5 year old kid named Julian McGrath that is assigned to him by social services. As you expect, Sonny calls the social services for not having the kid but since they are closed, Sonny is forced to take care of Julian and gradually he becomes smitten with him. Sonny and Julian will have lots of various adventures in town meeting some funny characters such as an Italian delivery man (Rob Schneider), a homeless man (Steve Buscemi) and a fat cab driver, and in all this Sonny will learn what it means to be responsible.

Adam Sandler, no matter what you think about most of his modern movies, is great and it's probably his best movie. Twins Dylan and Cole did a nice job as the kid and he and Sandler had lots of great moments. The supporting cast was a hoot and the soundtrack was full of many memorable songs of the 1980s and 1990s (with SWEET DREAMS repeated at least four times throughout the movie).

All in all, a comedy that only the darnedest curmudgeons would hate and one of Sandler's best.

Upon finishing Big Daddy I had a feeling of optimism and disappointment at the same time. This is one of the few perfect examples showing that Adam Sandler can effectively make a drama film, with some mild comedy, and create a relatively passable picture, but he opts out for cruder, more one-dimensional projects that provide little wit. This among 50 First Dates, Click, and Funny People can be viewed as the delightfully surprising Sandler pictures. The rest you can feel free to discard.

I'm too amazed at how tolerable some of the pictures where Sandler is out of the frame are. By now, most are aware of the Happy Madison regulars; Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Allen Covert, Peter Dante, Kevin Nealon, and newcomers Kevin James and Nick Swardson. I found Happy Madison's Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and Grandma's Boy to be entertaining works, if marginally forgettable, but also observed how when Sandler is working as producer, the end result is more often than not better. We'll see if that formula continues to thrive. I have quite a few more Happy Madison pictures to dig through.

Here, Sandler is actually rather capable playing the doughy man-child Sonny, who is 32, works one day a week at a toll-booth, and somehow still managed to snag the beautiful girlfriend. He manages to remain in stable conditions living off restitution payments from a petty vehicle accident. While Sonny's recently engaged roommate Kevin, played by, yes that, Jon Stewart, is off on business in China, Sonny is greeted with a five year old named Julian (the Sprouse twins) on his doorstep, and a written note claims that Julian came from a night of partying on Kevin's part. Unable to return home, Kevin puts Sonny under the care of Julian, and Sonny winds up lying to Social Services saying he is Kevin.

So, when Sandler's character is the parent, what do you think will happen? Insubordination? Mischief? Rambunctiousness and chaos galore? Well, you're right, but all in a muted form. What Sonny winds up doing with the kid is rather tame and not expected from the usual Sandler schtick. There's even a hint of nice sentimentality, that comes in the form of pleasantness rather than conventional schmaltz. He allows the kid to utilize options rather than orders to hopefully round him out to be a better person, rather than evolve into a miserable degenerate late on in life. Ultimately, the focus is more on the slapstick and the crudeness of the picture, and we go from some marginally sentimental scenes to jokes about Sonny's relationship with his gay friends (Covert and Dante) very quickly. But even then, the film never truly becomes dismal or reprehensible.

There's even a love story, with the beautiful Joey Lauren Adams playing Layla, Kevin's fiancée's sister. She keeps the story from truly going too far into the sea of despair, and is even involved in some of the film's best scenes. The one I immediately think of is the bedtime story.

What ultimately stops Big Daddy dead in its tracks is formula, which truly isn't taken in a way sharp enough to wholeheartedly recommend. Its mixture of slapstick and charm is impressive, the performances are nice, and the delivery is rarely rocky, but at times, the film becomes a tad too contrived, incorporating textbook pieces like the inevitable courtroom scene at the end and the "cute kid says naughty thing" cliché. For Sandler, it's a step up, and he may want to consider more of the impressively sassy kids films with a nice heart.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart, Rob Schneider, Leslie Mann, and Steve Buscemi. Directed by: Dennis Dugan.

Adam Sandler, once again he proves that you cannot go broke underestimating the taste of the US public. There must be hypnosis used to draw people to his movies. What I saw was entirely forgettable. Aside from someone slapping their kid around because they wouldn't stop talking (in the audience), there was nothing of mention in the movie. Adam Sandler makes Pauly Shore sound entertaining. If you liked 'Water Boy,' 'Biodome,' or 'Manos, Hands of Fate' you might be able to enjoy this film...

The more Adam Sandler movies I watch, the more I dislike the guy. Admittedly, he never bugged me up until projects such as "The Waterboy," which seem to have scarred his earlier vehicles -- including "Big Daddy," a movie about a slacker who adopts a kid in order to prove his responsibility to his girlfriend. Predictable mayhem ensues.

Sonny Koufax (Sandler) is a loser sharing an apartment in New York City with Kevin (Jon Stewart from Comedy Central's "The Today Show), who has to visit China and is leaving the place under the care of Sonny for the week. But the first day of his departure, a small five-year-old kid named Julian (Cole and Dylan Sprouse) arrives at the front door with a note, a la Paddington Bear. Kevin appears to be the boy's father, so Sonny hatches a great plan: He'll take care of the boy until Kevin returns, and prove to his girlfriend that he is responsible by passing the kid off as his son.

Sonny is a graduate from law school, which is extremely hard to believe, considering how dumb he is. When Julian wets the bed, Sonny grabs some newspaper and lays it down over the sheets. "There 'ya go, dry sheets," he says, before leaving the room and retreating to his bedroom.

The image of a caring father-figure that Chaplin invented in "The Tramp" is rather modernized here. I think Chaplin is probably rolling about in his grave.

I'm not going to bash "Big Daddy" for teaching bad morals. After all, there's a reason it's PG-13, and any parent who lets their kids see this are just about as responsible as Sonny. Too many critics criticize films for inappropriate subject matter, despite their adult ratings. Example? There's a scene where Sonny is trying to "weed out" the bad kids at school -- despite the fact that they're mere kindergarteners. Sonny sits on a playhouse, circled by little kids, and says, "You know what else is good? Smoking dope!" It's a very funny scene to watch in context with the movie, but it could come off different to younger childrne. Don't let your kids see this movie.

There is a repetitive cameo in "Big Daddy" by Steve Buscemi as a wandering homeless man. Buscemi often pops up in Sandler's films, which is surprising, since they're in a completely different range of acting. I did notice, however, that two films Buscemi has appeared in support McDonald's -- there's a long gag about the morning breakfast cut-off in this movie, and John Travolta subtly bashed Burger King in "Pulp Fiction," which also co-starred Buscemi. Personally, I think Burger King is much better. But let's not get sidetracked...

The movie relies on Adam Sandler for its hits and misses. The problem is that he's not as enthusastic here as he was in "Happy Gilmore." It's one of Sandler's best comedies, which is sort of sad. I wish he'd make more films like "Punch-Drunk Love." He does have a bit of potential, and he was OK on "Saturday Night Live," but he's wasting his career by making these repetitive films that recycle the same characters and situations, with little twists at all.

Does the movie have laughs? Sure. But they're strongly overpowered by the misfires. "Big Daddy" is a movie to approach with caution, even as light entertainment.

2.5/5 stars.

• John Ulmer

Some time ago I began wondering who might deserve the title of the worst comedian (pseudo-comedian, actually) of the last decade. Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler were high on my list, but when I saw "The Truman Show" I decided that Carrey eventually learned how to act instead of making faces, so I left him in peace. Recently, I saw "Bid Daddy"... and now I am sure: Sandler is the worst excuse of the comedian of the last 20 years, and perhaps of the century. And as for this movie, it's terrible even by the "Sandler standards". I'm just too tired to count the reasons why it's so awful... let me just tell that the day Adam Sandler deserves to be called an actor and a comedian will be the day Ed Wood is granted 10 posthumous Oscars for his life work.