Some have suggested that Adam Sandler should probably look at retiring from making films, but I suspect that he will continue to make films as long as people continue to go and see them. Mind you, he seems to be moving away from the well worn, and quite successful, trope that he used where he is basically a manboy that is forced to grow up for some reason or another. Yeah, this film certainly doesn't fit into this category, and in a way it is sort of more one of those action comedies than your typical Sandler movie.
Sandler plays this guy named Max, and I have to admit that he is pretty mysterious, though a lot of things sort of come out as the film progresses, but not all of them (which I will get to in a bit). There are a number of subtle clues though that make sense, and some that simply aren't explained, which is probably why I felt that this film didn't shine in the way it did. Anyway, he meets up with an old friend names Charlie whose life is, well, rather dull. Anyway, he invites him to go fishing, and proceeds to blow up the boat, and change their identities. These new identities mean that they manage to get to Peurto Rico, where they discover that these guys have just bought a beachfront Mansion. While things seem pretty good at first, they suddenly discover that these guys also have some assassins on their tail, which leads them into a conspiracy.
I think the problem with this film is that it is trying to be an action film while using Sandler's signature comedy style, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to work. In some cases there are some hints that are dropped that make sense as everything is revealed. Like, why Max never seems to actually sleep with any of the women that they pick up, but rather tries to get them to sleep with Charlie. There is also this rather interesting woman who spits at his picture at his funeral.
However, there are other things that are never explained, such as why he happens to be a crack shot with a pistol, and how he managed to get some forged passports (though they never actually leave the United States, so they are only ever used as identification, namely to get into a bank vault). Interestingly, Charlie happens to be a bank manager, at a bank that is a part of a supermarket, and it turns out that a Bank Manager has a lot more skills than meets the eye which helps move the film forward. For instance, one of the skills is to be able to hack into bank accounts, because he knows how the system works.
I'd probably say that this film is a good start for Sandler to move away from what he usually makes to actually try something new. Mind you, as I suggested, there are a number of things that aren't explained, but there are also a number of subtle things that do make sense, and that you can see that there is some consistency as the film progresses. Further, there are a number of hints as to what is going on that are revealed when further things are revealed, particularly since they do rewind when certain things are discovered.
Sure, I'm being pretty vague here because I don't really want to give anything away because, even though this isn't one of the greatest films out there, and that they could have done things differently, it still actually isn't all that bad. It's a good start, and it would be interesting to see if Sandler decides to continue along in this direction as there does seem to be potential there, it would just be a shame if it is wasted.
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