Little Nicky

by Seb Parker

Here’s an existential dilemma for our postmodern times: If God truly did exist, would he allow Adam Sandler to continue making movies?  "Little Nicky" comes close to answering that question, and it doesn’t look too good (for Sandler, that is).

This latest feature from the limited talents of the former "Saturday Night Live" star is, like all too many of his other films, a complete waste of time and celluloid.  Sandler, who really can be funny at times (especially when he has the likes of Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey to reign him in), plays the third and youngest son of Satan (Harvey Keitel … how appropriate).  A maladjusted devilish weakling, Nicky suffers the torments of his two older, menacing half-brothers, Adrian and Cassius (Rhys Ifans and Tony "Tiny" Lister, Jr.).  When daddy informs his three sons that he doesn’t plan to relinquish control of Hell to his offspring for another 10,000 years, Adrian and Cassius decide to create their own Hell up on Earth.  In so doing, they inadvertently disrupt the inflow of souls to the Fiery Pit, causing their father literally to fall apart.  So, it’s up to Nicky to retrieve his brothers and set things right.

What follows is a lot of boring toilet humor and a trite romantic plotline, all centering around the same old Sandler slapstick sight gags that work only if your IQ is lower than your age.  Watching "Little Nicky" is verily a hell in itself.  Sandler’s days as a box-office blockbuster seem numbered, as his movies grow drier, more tedious, and almost impossible to withstand.
So, maybe there is a God after all.

Director: Steven Brill
Cast: Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Harvey Keitel
(New Line Cinema, 2000) Rated: PG-13