Cole Abaius over at Film School Rejects performs a post-mortem on Adam Sandler's increasingly inane recent output of comedies, as parodied brilliantly in Judd Apatow's Funny People (then subsequently embraced with stinkers like Jack and Jill — life imitating art imitating life?). "The most prominent George Simmons film in Funny People is a gem called Re-Do where an overworked lawyer is transmuted by magic into the body of an infant," Abaius observes. "By playing Simmons, Sandler was directly commenting on the hollow nature of a lot of his own work."
The George Simmons Conundrum has been the single most infuriating/perplexing factor in Sandler-watching in the past few years. Clearly he was self-aware enough to recognize and mock his own image and career dependence on stupid high-concept comedies, rather perfectly addressed in the underrated Funny People. So why continued the streak of Razzie-worthy crapfests? For the mainstream money? To meet perceived audience expectations? Because it's easy*?
* We have a winner.
[Film School Rejects]