where I Watched It: Netflix

English Audio Description Provided By International Digital center

Written and Narrated By Kathlyn Finn

Girls just wanna have great movies. In a year where women have successfully been represented boldly and perfectly in movies like Are you There God? It’s Me Margaret and the current reigning box office champ Barbie, it would be nice if Netflix rounded the circle with their own contribution. They didn’t completely miss the boat, but I can’t say this didn’t fall short.

The film is based on a YA book of the same name that features two Jewish girls both planning for their Bat Mitzvah’s, who are lifelong BFF’s, until kinda suddenly they aren’t. Easily, a boy can be blamed, but just how kids treat each other is the main culprit.

Sunny Sandler, Adam’s daughter, stars here and it’s hard not to want more for her. In a world where there are so many actors coming up through the ranks who are legacy talents, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Lily Rose Depp, Scott Eastwood, Wyatt Russell, Cooper Hoffman, John David Washington, and so many others, I think it is so important for Sunny to have and find her own voice. Her father catapulted to stardom at a young age because he was given that latitude, and he explored his style of humor on Saturday Night Live. but to continue to push his kids through his voice is not going to help Sunny find her own place in this community.

Sunny, who has previously appeared in her father’s work, co-stars with him again here, and I can see she’s game to explore the acting world, but I can’t help think what she might be like if the sophomoric humor Sandler throws into all his films was missing from this, and it was a much more straight forward script. There are so many bright writer/directors out there who have never come into contact with Adam Sandler, that I wish she had a chance to find her own voice. Here, she’s stuck making bad period jokes and talking about queefing. I can’t help but think those jokes are not aimed at the middle school audience in a coming of age story. While Are you There God? Definitely had a frankness to it, much like bo Burnham’s well received 8th Grade, neither of those films used the kids as punchlines. Both films painted a realistic portrayal of the awkwardness of growing up, and this just feels like what a man who has never had to grow up thinks growing up is. Sandler is the Peter Pan of Hollywood, and gets away so often and rarely has to present as a true adult on or off screen. He’s hardly the person to guide a film, and I can’t help but think with the heavy presence of multiple members of the Sandler family, and Happy Madison looming, he had more influence with no screenwriting credit.

Not that all of his jokes land flat. There is an excellent scene where someone comes over to visit while Adam and Sunny are fighting upstairs off screen, and the juxtaposition between the pleasantries on screen, and the irate nature the Sandler’s are exhibiting offscreen was a good call. Sometimes, parents fight with their kids, but they don’t want anyone else to know they do.

But, as good as Adam Sandler is at playing the father to his own daughter on screen, I’d trade that for a film that feels totally different and lets Sunny fly on her own. Having Idina Menzel playing her mother certainly helps, and she has some really nice moments. There is quite a large youth ensemble here, and the casting did a good job of fleshing out the young cast.

I’m so conflicted with the potential of what this film could be, as well as what it should have been, and what it actually is as just another Happy Madison release. Kathlyn Finn is a delightful narrator, and I’m glad she wrote and did her own narration, so i can praise her for both things. This is a movie that is trying to juggle many themes, as well as Sandler’s typical style of humor which often leads to sight gags.

One supporting cast member did stand out to me, and that was Chloe Feinman, who finds the appropriate balance for what could otherwise turn into a gimmick. It feels like the kind of mildly offensive side character Rob Schneider used to play, but Feinman portrays her female Rabbi with as much truth and honesty as this film will allow.

It’s not that this film is bad, I just can’t help but think what might have been. If this film had been directed by Greta Gerwig, but she was a little busy subverting expectations this year. As it stands, it is one of Adam’s better releases with netflix, though that bar isn’t high to pass.

Final Grade: B-