New Sandler film can't match the classics, but doesn't stink

There was a time when Adam Sandler could do no wrong.

I still consider Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore to be two of the funniest comedies I've ever seen. I also like the Wedding Singer as it successfully blended a romantic plot and Sandler's childish humor with some 80's jokes thrown in.

Since those movies, it's all been downhill for Sandler. After sitting through The Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky, and Mr. Deeds, I was ready to give up. Yet, the prospect of him teaming up with Jack Nicholson was too much to keep me from Anger Management.

Adam Sandler plays Dave Buznik, a man in his mid-30's living in a small apartment in New York. Dave is stuck at a job designing catalogues of clothing for obese cats, one of the many reasons he has for being angry at the world. Dave tolerates abuse from his boss, watches idly as another man flirts with his girlfriend, and can't get over the childhood humiliation of being "pantsed" in public.

Instead of letting that anger out, Dave spends much of the early part of the movie mumbling and avoiding public affection from his girlfriend, blandly played by Marisa Tomei. In his eyes, however, we see that Dave is harboring rage as explosive as a ticking time bomb. In one mishap, Dave meekly attempts to get a flight attendant to bring him headphones. His nagging is misinterpreted as rudeness, and Dave winds up feeling the wrath of airline security: a sentence to anger management therapy.

Dave meets Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), the leader of the therapy group. Dr. Rydell explains to Dave that there are two kinds of angry people: the person yelling at a cashier and the cashier who sits through the yelling day after day before shooting up the store. Dave fits into that second group, and Dr. Rydell makes it his personal mission to help him get in touch with his anger. His method for getting Dave to come out of his shell is to make Dave as pissed off as humanly possible.

This allows Jack Nicholson to have a lot of fun playing himself -- or at least the smarmy, womanizing role that everyone loves to see him play. Anger Management plays up Jack's persona for all it's worth, and the constant slow-motion shots of Jack smiling maniacally, though only there to get a cheap laugh, are funny.

In the best moment of the film, Dr. Rydell and Dave sing a duet of "I Feel Pretty" while parked in the middle of the George Washington Bridge. At first Dave can barely squeak out the lyrics, but with Dr. Rydell's coaxing, he transforms into the high-pitched Sandler voices of old.

While Dave's meekness contrasts well with Dr. Rydell's crazy tactics, all eyes are on Jack in this movie. The audience is left to wonder whether there is a method to Dr. Rydell's madness. As his presence becomes more and more of a burden in Dave's life, his integrity comes into question. This question, though answered disappointingly, kept me interested throughout the movie, even through the slower parts.

One aspect of Anger Management that has been common in recent Sandler films is a plethora of celebrity cameos. Some of these cameos are great, particularly that of Heather Graham, who hilariously plays a bombshell gone mental. John Turturro is well cast as Chuck, a member of Dr. Rydell's anger management group with whom Dave is assigned to be "anger buddies." Other cameos fall flat, such as that of Bobby Knight, John McEnroe, and Roger Clemens, who are there to be other angry people. (Get it? Because they are angry in real life.)

The absolute worst cameo of the movie is that of Rudy Giuliani who steps in for some "I LOVE NYC" sentiments way past their welcome. Sandler and Nicholson's star power do rope in a lot of celebrities into this movie, and Anger Management wisely uses the talented ones in large roles and the others for quick one-liners.

So the big question is: Does Anger Management live up to Sandler's earlier funny movies, or is it in the same vein as the likes of Mr. Deeds? The answer is, neither. Anger Management lacks the randomness, stupidity, and re-watchability of Sandler's first few movies, but it does pack in a lot more laughs than his recent efforts. I think it's time for me and anyone else who can quote their way through Billy Madison to face up to the fact that Adam Sandler is going to continue attempting to make genuinely good movies. That's a sad reality. But in Anger Management, he's coming closer to winning me over again.