Has Adam Sandler lost his funny bone?

Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 4:57 PM Central

by John Couture

The other day I was watching Happy Gilmore on TV and it really struck me how far that Adam Sandler has fallen. It could also have something to do with the same TV being stuck on Just Go With It a few days earlier and the remote being lost.

And yes, I had to physically get up off the couch and change the channel. Just Go With It is that bad.

While I haven't seen it, I'm pretty sure that Jack and Jill is worse.

But Adam Sandler is the $100 million dollar man. Well, he is when he's headlining a comedy. At least he was until Jack and Jill, but that stinker still cleared $70 million.

Sony is literally the studio that Sandler built, but it seems that the public's taste is finally starting to catch up to the funnyman. After a string of less than expected grosses, I think it's safe to say that there's a lot riding on That's My Boy.

On face value, it's the type of movie that can't miss. Sandler is the child-like father of a straight-laced Andy Samberg (despite there only being a 12 year difference in their ages in real life) who crashes his son's wedding despite being out of touch with him for many years.

Back in the halcyon days of The Wedding Singer, that would have been a license to print money, but these days things are different. Despite Sony's best efforts to market the movie as aggressively as possible, the first look at the film by way of a red band trailer was a bit uninspired.

The sophomoric comedy combined with a litany of F bombs just didn't do much to register on the whole awareness scale, especially given how crowded this Summer already is. The good news (I guess) for Sony is that green band trailer that followed a few days later was actually better than the red band trailer.

When does that ever happen?

The sad thing is that when I watched Happy Gilmore, I was reminded just how funny Adam Sandler could be. I was also saddened to see him "phone it in" the last few movies.

What do you think? Is Adam Sandler washed up, or does he have a few more solid hits in him? Are you excited to check out That's My Boy when it hits theaters on June 15?