Okay, here’s a tip for Adam Sandler. It’s time to surround yourself with people who are willing to tell you the truth and not just say ‘yes’ to you. It is so obvious that everyone Sandler showed the script of Jack And Jill to must have boosted his ego by telling him how great it was, instead they should have been bashing him over the head with the manuscript and telling him how crap it was. As a result Sandler finds himself the main man in one of the worst movies of 2011.
Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler – Zookeeper, Just Go With It) has everything working out just fine for him. He is happily married to Erin (Katie Holmes – The Son Of No One, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark) and has two cheery (if not slightly dysfunctional) children. Then he faces his worst nightmare. His twin sister, Jill (also played by Sandler) is coming to visit, a nightmare because Jack despises his annoying twin. To top it off Jack also hits a hurdle with his successful advertising company when a company has their heart set on Al Pacino (The Son Of No One, You Don’t Know Jack) to be in their next television ad… something that Jack doesn’t see happening in a million years.
Director, Dennis Dugan (Just Go With It, Grown Ups) also deserves a good ass-kicking for his role in making sure that Jack And Jill made it to the cinemas. He should have read the script once and been able to say to Sandler “um sorry pal this just isn’t funny.” The film may provide a laugh here and there but for the most part the comedy is juvenile and just falls flat, so much so you can only think that Sandler must have photos of Pacino, Holmes and Depp (The Rum Diary, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) that they don’t want released, why else would they slum it in a film this trouble.
Aside from the woeful script the other thing that makes Jack And Jill such a stinker is the fact that Sandler is just plain awful as Jill. He’s not funny, and I’m sorry but donning ladies clothes and putting on a child’s voice just isn’t acting. If he wanted to make the part work he needed to put in a hell of a lot more effort or just bitten the bullet and actually got an actress to play the part (even though it may have defeated Sandler’s juvenile view for the film).
Jack And Jill is one of the worst movies of the year… do yourself a favor and make sure you steer clear.
Year: 2011
Director: Dennis Dugan
Stars: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino
Classification: PG
Runtime: 91 mins
Rating: 
Out on DVD/Blu-Ray 4th April 2012