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LITTLE NICKY

With the release of Little Nicky last year, Adam Sandler finally got a taste of what all successful Saturday Night Live alumni find themselves exposed to sooner or later: a backlash. After the phenomenal success of the comedian's films in recent years (The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy), it was inevitable that waning audience interest and bloating budgets/paychecks would result in a bomb. This Satanic comedy is that film, a picture that is as painfully unfunny as it is wildly self-indulgent.

Sandler stars as the title character, one of three sons to Satan, and unlikely savior to Hell. When Little Nicky's evil brothers (Rhys Ifans and Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr.) escape to Earth in order to destroy the place, it falls to Sandler's odd-looking, nice-guy half-demon to capture his brothers and restore order to his father's domain down below. But upon arriving on the mortal plane, Nicky finds that there is a lot to learn in order to survive in big bad New York City (such basic notions as eating and sleeping not being necessary in the Underworld). With the help of a talking bulldog named Beefy (voiced by gross-out wunderkind Robert Smigel), Nicky comes to master life on Earth while he tracks down his brothers. Along the way, he even manages to fall in love with a geeky girl named Valerie (Patricia Arquette) who looks like her wardrobe was purchased at a flea market in Hell.

With this basic plot in place, the film drones on for some 85 minutes with a very low joke-to-laugh ratio. Some moments are funny, as when we learn of Adolph Hitler's day-to-day existence in Hell, or when a possessed Regis Philbin talks about bashing in someone's head with a bat with full Regis enthusiasm. Yes, Mr. Philbin pops in for a brief cameo in Little Nicky, as do scores of other familiar faces: Rodney Dangerfield, Kevin Nealon, Harvey Keitel, Ozzy Osbourne, Reese Witherspoon, Quentin Tarantino, Dana Carvey... the list goes on. And while some of these guest stars work brilliantly (is Ms. Witherspoon ever less than delightful?), many simply distract from the film and its stars. Director John Landis has been guilty of this sort of cameos-crime many times over the years, and usually such excess is less indicative of good filmmaking than it is of "Hey gang, let's put on a show in my uncle's barn" type amateurism.

Director Steven Brill and Sandler (who co-wrote and executive produced the film) seem content to rely on computer generated trickery and expensive, if unimpressive, sets to carry the picture when there are no cameo players on screen. And while these high tech flourishes are adequately accomplished, there's no getting around the sense that Little Nicky is full of hot air. Perhaps the problem here is Sandler himself, whose annoying, quirky portrayal of the title character is, quite frankly, not funny. He should be carrying this film, but instead his Little Nicky is irritating, odd, and off-putting, and the audience has to seek solace from the supporting players or wherever else they can find it. I say this as a fan of much of Sandler's previous work I'm all for his sophomoric brand of humor, when it works. Somehow Little Nicky, in all its bloated, expensive good intentions, falls flat.

New Line's Little Nicky DVD features an anamorphic widescreen transfer of the film with both 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound and 2.0 Stereo Surround. There are no foreign language or subtitle options, which I suppose is a blessing for all the non-English speakers out there who won't have to sit through this film. As with most of New Line's Platinum Series DVDs, this transfer is nearly perfect, with crystal clear visuals and a great sound mix.

Equally impressive is the abundance of extra features found on this disc. Of most interest are the two count 'em, two audio commentaries. The "Filmmaker" commentary, with Adam Sandler, director Steven Brill, and co-writer Tim Herlihy, features the three cracking wise and generally having a good old time while watching the film. It's a bit odd to hear Sandler refer to himself in the third person throughout, and there's no mention of the film's failures, but all in all this commentary is pretty fun. The second audio track is the "Cast" commentary, hosted by Michael McKean and featuring Clint Howard, Kevin Nealon, Henry Winkler, Jon Lovitz, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. Each of the participants recorded their comments separately (while being questioned by McKean), and then all of these bits were cut together to create this track. This is a mildly enjoyable commentary depending on who is being featured at any given moment, but my favorite would have to be the talk with Ozzy the man is out of his mind. Also pay note to the fact that Laverne & Shirley's Lenny (McKean) interviews Happy Days' Fonzie (Winkler) during this track, as does Spinal Tap's David St. Hubbins (McKean again) interview another Metal legend, Ozzy!

Next we have two documentaries, Adam Sandler Goes to Hell and Satan's Top Forty. The first is a 32-minute behind-the-scenes segment that is part puff-piece, part informative making-of feature. The requisite interviews with Sandler and gang are here, as they compliment one another and talk about a crappy film as if it's a work of art. But the segments on set design, make-up, and special effects are all of interest, and manage to avoid the typical studio PR trappings. Satan's Top Forty (17 minutes) will appeal mainly to fans of Heavy Metal music, as that is the topic of the segment, tracing the history of the genre through interviews with musicians (Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons, Ronnie James Dio) and Little Nicky cast members alike.

As if that weren't enough, also included on this disc are some 21 deleted or extended scenes, including an alternate ending. Some of these are just alternate versions of scenes that are in the actual movie, but others are worth checking out. A music video (School of Hard Knocks by P.O.D), cast and crew filmographies, the theatrical trailer, and DVD-ROM features are also packed onto this disc. The latter offers a "Script-to-Screen" option which allows the viewer to watch a thumbnail version of the film side by side with the Little Nicky shooting script plus the usual website access.

Additionally, the main menu offers a few joke options such as "pain" and "suffering" that only lead to brief animated bits of torment (like flames suddenly engulfing the screen or the image of a train running the viewer over). Also, an "Easter Egg" leads to a trailer for New Line's Lord of the Rings film that is due out next Christmas. But while these many features amount to a great DVD outing, there is no getting around the fact that Little Nicky the film is a truly hellish experience.