Big Daddy (DVD 2000)

Adam Sandler is always entertaining, but Big Daddy never really piqued my interest; looking back now, I think the previews of this film did it a disservice. Certainly, Big Daddy has its course moments, but it's an excellent comedy that just so happens to have a heart. Some would say this film sets a bad example for kids. First of all, this isn't one of those education films of the 1950s that tells you how to be a good parent. More importantly, though, what you have here is a guy who is more than willing to "grow up" and change his life in order to be a father to a kid he genuinely loves. Plenty of fathers in the world raise their kids to be little gentlemen and ladies, but often it's more about a father not wanting his son or daughter to embarrass him than it is about genuine fatherly love. To me, Big Daddy is - in its own quirky, Sandler-ish way - a tribute to all the fathers out there who genuinely love their children.
As usual, Sandler plays a character who has never really grown up; Sonny Koufax is a law school graduate, but he works in a toll booth one day a week and basically tries to live as if he is still an undergrad. His girlfriend Vanessa (Kristy Swanson) wants a man of means and goals, and he's trying to figure out how to get her back when little Julian (played by Cole and Dylan Sprouse) is literally dropped at his doorstep. It's not even his kid; the biological father is Sonny's roommate who has just left town on business. Sonny tells his newly-engaged buddy that he will handle everything, initially planning just to keep the kid until Social Services opens the next day - but he can't let little Julian be tossed into an orphanage. He doesn't exactly follow Dr. Spock's rules for parenthood, but Sonny soon comes to love the little tyke - even after it becomes clear that he and Vanessa are through. When Social Services finds a family for Julian, Sonny can't give him up - until he's forced to. The fact that he posed as the kid's biological father doesn't stand him in good stead when he tries to get custody of the kid, but he's determined to try.

Sonny teaches Julian a lot of dubious things, but he also does the kid right when he realizes that his laissez faire parenting method isn't what is best for the child when it comes to schoolwork and the like - and he comes up with some pretty ingenious ways to inspire Julian. Before this film is through, there are actually a few heartwarming moments - which are accomplished without sacrificing any of the comedy. The cast is great (even Jon Stewart isn't all that bad); Joey Lauren Adams in particular brings a special something to the film as Sonny's new girlfriend.

I don't, as a rule, enjoy comedies built around children doing some of the disgusting things that children do, but Big Daddy was a pleasant, very entertaining surprise. You can't really go wrong with a Sandler movie - laughs are guaranteed, and there's almost always much more to the story than you might expect.