I love Sandler, love Rock, love Reynolds, love the original. I guess all that love only set me up to be disappointed in this remake, which I was.
I think the biggest problem might have been in casting Sandler. He’s an odd choice to fill Reynolds’ shoes. Both men are juvenile, and yet Reynolds personifies machismo even as he’s making fun of it. Reynolds’ relationship with machismo can be summarized as: he’ll make fun of himself for acting so manly, but never to the point that it costs him getting laid. Sandler, on the other hand, has major issues with machismo, as so much of his persona is cultivated on playing the fool but never really fitting in or being accepted on self-respecting terms. Sandler usually gets the girl, he usually gets the last laugh, and yet he has to give up too much of his integrity to be admired for it. Sandler scrapes by as a man, whereas Reynolds (in his prime) flourished. The differences are obvious in the updated Longest Yard.
by Jason Woloski | Source: Paramount 35mm Print
22 Jul 2005 9:04 PM | Submit Comment