Adam Sandler is perfectly content staying in his lowbrow, audience-pleasing lane. “I didn’t get into movies to please the critics,” he once told the Independent). “I got into it to make people laugh and have fun with my friends.” Can you blame him? He makes millions of dollars to hang out with Chris Rock and kill Pac-Man, or whatever the plot of Pixels was, which sounds like a pretty great life. But every so often, Sandler will remind those outside his core Happy Madison fanbase that, when he wants to, he’s a fine actor.
It happened in Punch-Drunk Love, it happened in Funny People, and it’s happening in The Meyerowitz Stories. Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, the film is about “the intergenerational tale of adult siblings contending with the influence of their aging father,” according to Netflix, which is releasing the film. Sandler, who received career-best reviews when The Meyerowitz Stories premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, is joined in the all-star cast by Ben Stiller, Elizabeth Marvel, Candice Bergen, Emma Thompson, Adam Driver, Judd Hirsch, and a very-bearded Dustin Hoffman.
Netflix just released the first teaser for the movie, and two things are immediately obvious: 1) this is definitely a Noah Baumbach joint, and 2) if Adam Sandler wears sweatpants, it’s a character choice, not laziness.
The Meyerowitz Stories premieres on Netflix on October 13.
