Over the weekend, I watched the new Adam Sandler film, The Do-Over, which was exclusively released on Netflix. Over all, I enjoyed it, but I’d like to go a little more in-depth:
The Good
The film is basically a comedy-noir film about a bank manager named Charlie McMillan, played by David Spade, who reconnects with an old high school buddy named Max Kessler, played by Sandler.
Charlie is your typical loser. He’s never taken a risk in his life, save asking the girl of his dreams to marry him after she’s been divorced and has twins. David Spade does an excellent job of playing a man who you can feel genuinely sorry for but at the same time practically yell at him to stand up for himself. He is the typical nice guy who finishes last, even with a hot wife and a decent job.
Max is an Alpha male who enjoys being as crazy as possible. After reconnecting with Charlie at a high school reunion, he orchestrates an elaborate plan to fake both his and Charlie’s death. This results in a series of events which takes both men on a wild adventure with your typical noir twists and turns.
The antics between the two characters is hilarious and reinforces the notion that they are old friends. Max himself is very protective of Charlie, going so far as to be his wingman at times and provide advice for picking up women during his new life.
The Bad
The resolution at the end seemed a little too simple. I know that the film wasn’t all that complicated but at the same time, we see an ending that couldn’t be resolved in the same way in real life. Noir-type films usually require some kind of reasonable resolution in the end and I just didn’t buy it, even though it was also a comedy film.
The Ugly
There are a few gross out scenes in the movie. Wasn’t entirely necessary honestly but it wasn’t anything worse than what you might see in The Hangover, which is another comedy-noir film. Definitely do not watch this movie with your kids around.
Overall, this was a movie I enjoyed watching for what it is: a comedy-noir film with the appropriate twists you might expect from this kind of movie as well as some really good comedy spliced in.
If you have Netflix account, check it out.