The humor stays where it belongs, floating on the surface, refusing the flush of the toilet in Sandler's latest,"Guy Gets Kid".Herbie the Luv Bug signs in with another of his script peeks, and there may be spoiler, so be prepared.
O HARRY, ET AL...
First, I appreciate both the pos and neg comments re: Deep Blue Sea rant. To hopefully prove that I'm not some "know it all," "holier than writers" type, I offer forth the thoughts on the upcoming ADAM SANDLER epic GUY GETS KID. Sandler fan base should be pleased to know that lots of toilet humor and irreverence is involved. Again, this was early version of screenplay by original writer STEVE FRANK, and I believe Sandler's buddy / director FRANK CORACI is rewriting.
(SPOILER) The story opens up with Sandler's character (Curtis) doing your basic Sandler kind of stuff at an amusement park where he's worked for ten years and looks back on his life as something of a failure, encouraging a newcomer to the park to stay in school, etc. The park is generic, but the script gives Curtis a lot of great tourist harrassment type scenes: one lady comes up to him, points to an attraction and asks "What's that?" and Curtis sarcastically answers "Your index finger." Okay, maybe that's not all that funny (made ME laugh), but the story picks up when Curtis is stunned to find a five year old on his doorstep. The kid (Josh) is his best buddy's son, and the mom wants the buddy to take care of him for a while. Conveniently, the buddy is on his way to a tropical vacation with his screechy girlfriend, and leaves Curtis holding the bag (or the boy, so to speak).
(MORE SPOILERS) Great scenes are throughout the screenplay, with Curtis taking little Josh to the park and letting him operate the rides, teaching the boy how to lie about his age, and the inevitable "wiping" Josh scene. Other cutesy stuff has Josh drawing a picture of himself and Curtis holding hands, and the way Josh can't really pronounce Curtis' name correctly. One great little throwaway moment comes in a McDonalds when Curtis tells Josh that as punishment for running wild, he has to order an "Unhappy Meal," which starts the kid bawling. There's even some third act suspense -- does Curtis get the kid at the end when the grandparents come-a-callin?
The amazing thing about the story is that if you're a hopeless romantic like Herbie (who cried all the way through Wedding Singer, even) then you could well fill a bucket at this movie. It's like a Generation X KRAMER VS. KRAMER, but with a primo irresponsible Sandler character. Not sure what the news on WATERBOY is, but trailer certainly cracks me up (particularly the white trash mom Kathy Bates decrying her son's "social skills"), and GUY GETS KID looks to be another winner for Sandler, but with a sweet kinda story for older folks as well. Some Sandler fans might find it sappy -- is he going soft? -- but I bet a lot of people end up thinking it's his best movie yet.
FROM, HERBIE "HE DOESN'T HATE EVERYTHING" THE LUV BUG
