2020 Reviews – Hubie Halloween

You see, Adam Sandler and I have been on a break recently. After I dismissed Jack & Jill, That’s My Boy, and the Grown Ups movies, it was Pixels that proved the poorly-made straw that broke the camel’s back. The split coincided with Sandler finding a new home on Netflix, and since then, I haven’t seen a single one of his comedies. There’s no doubt I once loved the guy – I mean, I named my blog after a quote from Billy Madison – so, this is the year, I’ve decided to shake the frost off my heart, and try to reconcile our comedic differences with Hubie Halloween. If COVID-19 has done anything, it’s urged us to reflect on better times, and the things that bring us joy. In the trailer for Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler’s schtick reminds me of that of The Waterboy, and the return of Julie Bowen as Sandler’s leading lady recalls happier times with Happy Gilmore. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. And most importantly, to everyone reading this, Halloween is just around the corner; Happy Halloween!

And well, I wasn’t the only one reminiscing on old times! Hubie Halloween is stacked full of references to Sandler’s golden age, with O’Doyles, dodgeball, random statements from an old maid, and a beautiful cameo from Ben Stiller as Hal the unhinged orderly. Directed by Steven Brill, Hubie Halloween follows Hubie Dubious (Adam Sandler), the self-appointed Halloween monitor of Salem, as he does his best to navigate the local happenings on October 31^st. Like a few of Sandler’s previous creations, Hubie might be a little mentally deficient, but he makes up for it by being hella sweet and honourable. Julie Bowen plays a single Mum, Violet Valentine, whose main objective is to thirst for Hubie, since they have both been harbouring a secret desire for each other since grade school. This Halloween night proves especially dubious, as local townspeople keep getting abducted, there’s an ex-resident mental patient on the loose, and there may be a werewolf living right next door.  

I got around the running jokes of Hubie’s Swiss Army thermos and random things getting thrown in his direction, but a comedy can’t rely on just that. There’s enough prat-falls and toilet humour to shake a stick at. I was left with one question; were Adam Sandler comedies always this juvenile? Maybe I didn’t notice because I was young myself. But no, they weren’t; recalling a moment from Big Daddy, the funny comes not from the roller-skater who trips on a stick and falls into the lake, but at Sonny’s apathetic playfulness when he says, “there’s a stick, there. Somebody should move it.” This movie has a few funny zingers but not enough to make a stacker. The biggest laugh I got was at Hubie’s tagline in his old student yearbook – ‘Most likely to marry his pillow.’ And the old asexual maid was always going to provide the goods; she should’ve been a staple in all Adam Sandler adventures long ago, let’s face it. Maybe since Sandler has had his own kids, he sees more value in making movies for children now; fair enough. I would call Hubie Halloween fun for the whole family, absolutely – children will laugh that there’s a big burly man with a woman’s voice, and parents (well, fathers) will get a kick out of that man being Shaq.

How sweet is Hubie’s mother played by June Squibb. I’m sure I’ve seen her in other things, but it’s going to take an internet search to realise what… ah, the geriatric with the torn vagina in House M.D.,that’s where. Another running joke is the sexualised shirts she wears; I just wish her character was made to explain what they all meant, instead of just the one about the boners. Her friend is wearing a shirt that says, ‘It’s not going to lick itself’; and that’s about envelops and posting letters, right? Obviously. That’d go down a hoot at the Post Office. Hubie’s Halloween has an absolutely huge star cast, featuring Adam Sandler’s regular pals, SNL alumni and a few extra funny people. There’s Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Shaquille O’Neil, Blake Clarke, and Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn, Maya Rudolph, Kenan Thompson, and Melissa Villasenor. Then there’s Ray Liotta, Michael Chiklis, George Wallis, Lavell Crawford and Kym Whitley, as well as upcoming teenage actors Karan Brar, Paris Berelc and Noah Schnapp. Adam Sandler’s wife, Jackie, and children also get rolls, apparently along with James’s kids and many more. But how did I not pick who the escaped loon behind the pig mask was going to be – I saw the guy was short and I thought; David Spade? But who is it definitely going to be in an Adam Sandler movie, before David Spade? C’mon, guess. You can dooo it. Exactly. I’m out of touch.

Anyway, maybe I’m going soft, but I came away from Hubie Halloween with enough to say I enjoyed watching it. I liked Adam Sandler’s characterisation of Hubie Dubious and the way he reacted to things said to him, in a polite matter-of-fact manner. With so many citizens making up the town of Salem, the movie aims to cover a lot of territory, and the story can sometimes come across with a scattered dreamy pointlessness, but it’s not as severe it was in the Grown Ups movies, and at least there still is a main through-line that comes together at the end. For me, I also enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing all these comedians and stars from yesteryear popping up for a bit here and there – I haven’t seen Colin Quinn since Trainwreck, and even longer before that. I remember watching Lavell Crawford on Last Comic Standing when I was in my teens. And, I don’t know, there’s always still a chance for something magical when Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler are on screen together… so I suppose I can put a pin in my feud with the Sandman, and respect this film as a family friendly endeavour. I guess time really does heal everything, except for crazy eyes of course.

2.5