Review of the new Netflix special

We all know Adam Sandler - king of the juvenile 1990s comedy movie – has grown up of late, and his new special, Love You, embraces that, opening with all the chaotic drama of Uncut Gems, the 2019 that revived his career as a serious actor.

Arriving at the venue looking dishevelled and already stressed out by a cracked windscreen, he’s mobbed by memorabilia dealers demanding autographs on intrusive photographs and, later, fans wanting videos sent to unwell relatives. He frets about his clothes and his set as the warm-up act – a ventriloquist – struggles. He’s bundled onto the stage with no quiet time to get into the zone, only to find the monitors displaying the default Windows desktop, not the slides he expected.

The sense of bedlam was indeed shot by Uncut Gems co-director Josh Safdie and captures the disorganised seat-of-pants chaos that might be more often found in comedy club green rooms than slick Netflix specials. Commotion occurs throughout the taping too – planned but without Sandler knowing the specifics, apparently.

The overwhelming sense of humour in Love You is essentially the same low bar as his career-defining movies: Botoxed dicks and giving hand-jobs to strangers in an airport toilet are the narratives for two of his shaggiest shaggy dog stories.

Remarkably, though, the comedy doesn’t seem half as cheap as it might. It helps that Sandler sets the whole night up with a sense of old-fashioned absurdity. It starts off with jokes about clown funerals and foot-high assassins, and even that airport joke is framed by a genie granting three wishes. 

Plus, there’s something about his semi-mumbling casual style that makes the routines endearing as storytelling vignettes, even if the payoff is gross, the meandering journey is rather sweet – surprisingly. 

Not everything hits low. A routine about the odd spelling of words like ‘answer’ is amusingly attributed to the idiotic, bullying older brother of dictionary complier Merriam Webster insisting on his way of doing things, with some menace.

Songs pepper the stand-up, often just tuneful one-liners – although others go on too long and become self-indulgent. Talking of which, Rob Schneider gets a full song to impersonate Elvis, but it’s a lively interlude if entirel irrelevant.

And Sandler ends with a sincere song about the enduring power of the best comedy – not to change minds and affect change, but just to cheer people up when they are down. A simple, overly sentimental message, maybe – set to a montage of classic comedy moments – but surprisingly effective. Just as his knob gags are surprisingly endearing

• Adam Sandler: Love You is streaming now on Netflix.

Review date: 29 Aug 2024
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett