Today’s quick review: Eight Crazy Nights. After one drunken rampage too many, Davey Stone (Adam Sandler) is sentenced to community service with Whitey Duvall (Adam Sandler), a kindly old man who works as a youth basketball referee. With Hanukkah upon him and no reason to celebrate, Davey tries to push Whitey as far as he can without landing in prison. But thanks to Whitey’s persistence, Davey’s bad attitude gradually begins to change.
Eight Crazy Nights is an animated holiday comedy starring Adam Sandler. The story centers around Davey, a washed-up misanthrope in his thirties who’s determined to make the people around him suffer. Eight Crazy Nights has a heartfelt premise that tries to capture of the spirit of the Hanukkah season. However, it’s wed to a crude tone and a sense of bitterness that undermine the goodwill it attempts to build, resulting in a very uneven watch.
Eight Crazy Nights tries to have it both ways. On the one hand, it’s a faithful execution of the holiday formula, right down to the saccharine moments and musical numbers. On the other hand, it’s a raunchy adult comedy that takes shots at the genre it’s trying to mimic. The movie has the tools it needs to play either angle successfully, but trying to do both at once leads to a wildly inconsistent tone that mixes two incompatible flavors.
The issue can be seen in the film’s bipolar treatment of Whitey Duvall. As far as the story is concerned, Whitey is a saint: a humble, generous man with seemingly limitless patience. But the film repeatedly uses him as the butt of its jokes, saddling him with physical deformities, a shrill voice, and endless unearned hate from the residents of the town. As such, he’s paradoxically meant to be both a sympathetic figure and an object of ridicule.
The humor is similarly flawed. Eight Crazy Nights does have some funny jokes tucked away here and there, as well as some routines that could have shown with a bit mroe polish. But many of its gags are jarringly out of place, whether for being crude, mean-spirited, or simply not that funny. The story suffers from the same problem: moments of genuine character growth that get lost amid the adult humor and generic storyline.
Yet for all its faults, Eight Crazy Nights holds a twisted sort of charm. The jokes that hit home are just frequent enough to show potential. The animation is lovingly detailed and would fit right at home in a straight take on the holiday genre. The songs are lavish productions let down only by their bizarre subject matter. With just a slight shift in tone, this craftsmanship could have been the basis of a cohesive, satisfying comedy.
As it stands, Eight Crazy Nights holds only a narrow sort of appeal. The two sides to the movie blend poorly, and even solid execution of individual parts of the movie can’t make up for its lack of focus. Fans of Adam Sandler who don’t mind an eclectic tone will get the most out of Eight Crazy Nights. Viewers hoping for a heartfelt comedy and ones hoping for an acerbic parody will both walk away disappointed.
For a story about reforming a jerk that balances comedy and heart much more successfully, try Groundhog Day. For a more family-friendly animated comedy about selfish scoundrels, try The Road to El Dorado or The Emperor’s New Groove.
5.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 for an unusual viewion with a few bright spots but poor execution overall; your score will depend heavily on taste.