One of the most legendary actors of the 1990s, and one of the highest paid actors of all-time, Adam Sandler. Some hated him, some loved him, but we all grew up with him. My dad was never a fan, however I think he is hilarious and his movies are still some of my favorites to this day. Rachel and I geared up in summer of 2022 for the “Summer of Sandler” and watched all 44 of Adam Sandler’s movies from June to August.
This movie marathon stretched from his first movie in 1989 to his latest in 2022. Over that 33 year period, we decided to focus on films that Sandler has a lead role in, so you will not find the following in our list: Coneheads, Mixed Nuts, Dirty Work, Deuce Bigalow, The Animal, The Hot Chick, The Zookeeper, Top Five & I am Chris Farley. I own 25 of his movies, watched a bunch more on Netflix and even rented some from the library. We watched a few of his old SNL skits and also watched his latest Netflix Stand Up featuring hit song, Phone Wallet Keys! You can find his full acting catalog here.
Without further ado, our ranking of all 44 Adam Sandler movies from worst to best.
#44 - You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (DVD) - 2008 - Terrible, just terrible. Sandler plays a former Israeli hit man named Zohan who comes to America to cut hair and sleep with old women. Very bizarre with a not so funny plot. Locking up Sandler’s worst movie.
IMDB: 5.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 12%
#43 - That’s My Boy (Hulu) - 2012 - Funny concept, but a really bizarre movie with teacher/student sex, incest and very annoying characters. Sandler plays Donny, the long lost father of Andy Sandberg. There were a couple funny scenes that made me laugh, which slightly edged this movie into second to last place.
IMDB: 5.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 20%
#42 - Ridiculous 6 (Netflix) - 2015 - This movie was ridiculous… It had a few funny parodies of a western classic, but the first hour of the movie was a struggle to get through. Sandler plays Tommy, an outlaw raised by Native Americans who finds out his Dad slept around, enter the rest of the star studded cast. Not too terrible when the action picked up, but way too much racism and prejudice throughout.
IMDB: 4.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 0% (who even knew this was possible)
#41 - Grown Ups 2 (DVD Library) - 2013 - The sequel that should not have been made! This entire movie took place in 24 hours, had no plot and was pretty much a dumpster fire. Great cast though, Salma Hayek looking good!
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 8%
#40 - Going Overboard (DVD) - 1989 - Sandlers first ever movie and my first time seeing it. Originally titled Babes Ahoy, this movie was a tad bit better than the old home movies I used to make with my buddies, but it was his first ever movie, so we have to give it a little bit of love. Sandler plays a yacht server named Schecky Moskowitz who wants to be a stand up comedian.
IMDB: 1.8 (his lowest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 11%
#39 - Anger Management (DVD) - 2003 - Most people would probably rank this higher, as it has a good amount of funny moments, but the constant negativity and Sandler being taken advantage of was just too much to enjoy. Decent plot with Dave Buznik (Sandler) being sentenced to anger management with Jack Nicholson, but nearly every scene gets under your skin, was hard to watch and gave you an uneasy feeling in your stomach.
IMDB: 6.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 42%
#38 - Jack and Jill (Netflix) - 2011 - My first time seeing and honestly it wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be. I think if Sandler didn’t play both Jack and his sister Jill in this film, it would have been received better… but he did, so I guess that's why most hate this movie.
IMDB: 3.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 3%
#37 - Eight Crazy Nights (DVD Library) - 2002 - Perhaps this is one of those movies, like most of Sandler’s, where if you saw it when it first came out it is a classic. But to me, this was maybe my second time ever seeing it, it really wasn’t that great. Some of the musical ballads were decent which resulted in this film landing just above its prequel, Jack and Jill. Get it? Because Sandler plays both old man Whitey and his sister in this movie too.
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 12%
#36 - Shakes the Clown (Amazon Prime Rental) - 1991 - Sandler plays the role of Dink the clown who tries to help his friend Shakes, an alcoholic clown causing trouble in the neighborhood, every way he can, even battling against the mimes. I may have ranked this early 90s gem higher, however, Sandler plays more of a supporting role, despite still having a good amount of lines and screen time in his second film ever.
IMDB: 5.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 43%
#35 - Men Women and Children (DVD Library) - 2014 - I had never heard of this movie until the Summer of Sandler. This movie was decent in some aspects, as it covered high school children and their relationships with their parents from a few different families perspectives. Sandler was one of the main characters, Don Truby, but there were so many different story lines that he did not have a strong enough role for a higher ranking.
IMDB: 6.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 33%
#34 - I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Netflix) - 2007 - Sandler plays Chuck Levine, one of two straight NY firefighters, pretending to be in a gay relationship for healthcare benefits. This film had some classic Sandler lines and scenes, but there was way too much homophobia and homophobic slurs, which they address as being wrong, but still, a little over the top.
IMDB: 5.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 14%
#33 - Blended (DVD) - 2014 - Sweet, heart warming story about two families that end up vacationing in Africa together after the single parents go on a bad first date. Sandler plays Jim and links up with his recurring counterpart, Drew Barrymore.
IMDB: 6.5
Rotten Tomatoes: 15%
#32 - The Cobbler (DVD) - 2014 - Another first timer for us. I was surprised that this was more of a dark comedy, but it was a pretty funny concept with some good drama. Sandler plays Max Simkin, a cobbler who discovers a secret about his family shoe repair machine.
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 10%
#31 - Bedtime Stories (DVD Library) - 2008 - Cute kid’s film where Sandler aka Skeeter Bronson starts to make up his own stories to tell his niece and nephew which end up become a reality in his hotel handyman life.
IMDB: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%
#30 - Hotel Transylvania 3 - (DVD Library) - 2018
#29 - Hotel Transylvania - (DVD Library) - 2012
#28 - Hotel Transylvania 2 - (DVD Library) - 2015 - Grouping these three animated flicks together. Overall pretty good movies. Number 3 was by far the least enjoyable, with the sequel number 2 coming in at the best movie. Hit closest to home as two of the vampires have a baby and are a new young family. Sandler is Dracula and is constantly adapting to life with a daughter, Mavis.
#3
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
#1
IMDB: 7.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 44%
#2
IMDB: 6.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 55%
#27 - Funny People (Peacock) - 2009 - Pretty good movie and would have ranked it higher, but coming in at 2.5 hours, the movie kinda dragged and took too long to finish. Sandler plays a washed up all-star comedian, George Simmons, who is on the verge of dying, and dealing with a young relationship.
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
#26 - Bulletproof - (DVD Library) - 1996 - Sandler, Archie Moses, teams up with Damon Wayans, Keats, on this film to bring a 90s crime action comedy to the people. Of course there are plenty of cheesy 90s scenes, but that is what makes it so great.
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 8%
#25 - Hubie Halloween (Netflix) - 2020 - Sandler continues his trend of playing a somewhat slow character, the town goof, Hubie Dubois. This film has all the odes to the classic Sandler flicks and was a solid, childish spooky movie. I enjoyed the upbeat soundtrack as well, but very cheesy and corny throughout. If you don’t know his old movies this would be a pretty bad one.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
#24 - Just Go With It (Netflix) - 2011 - Sandler is Danny, the plastic surgeon, who isn’t shy about dating around. Jennifer Aniston is his assistant who jumps on a trip to Hawaii with her family in order to try to help Danny out with his newest girlfriend. The kids really made the movie with some hilarious lines.
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 19%
#23 - The Do-Over (Netflix) - 2016 - I had never seen this one before, but it involved some great action and comedic lines from Sandler and Spade. These two fake their own deaths to try and start over, re-viving their SNL days together. This was one of the first Sandler movies we watched, is it ranked too high?
IMDB: 5.7
Rotten Tomatoes: 9%
#22 - Sandy Wexler (Netflix) - 2017 - Agent Sandy Wexler struggles to manage any of his clients, then one of them blows up and becomes famous. Sandler’s annoying voice makes another appearance and you feel bad for his character throughout, but a decent movie that is supposedly based on the actual real life talent agent who discovered Sandler.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%
#21 - The Longest Yard (DVD) - 2005 - Sandler’s second best football movie with an all-star cast and the likes of Michael Irvin, Nelly, Chris Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Burt Reynolds, Cheeseburger Eddie and more. Sandler, former NFL player and criminal, Paul Crewe, and his fellow convicts put together a football team to play the guards. Some quality quotes and hard hitting football action in this one.
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
#20 - Little Nicky (DVD) - 2000 - Another early Sandler classic from childhood. Sandler plays the Devil’s son, Nicky, and has to save earth from his power possessed brothers. Yes, Sandler talks like an idiot once again, but this time because he was hit with a shovel… Some hilarious lines from the usual characters, oh and quite a rocking soundtrack!
IMDB: 5.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 21%
#19 - Punch-Drunk Love (DVD) - 2002 - After re-watching this, I forgot the anxiety and stress it holds similar to that of Uncut Gems. Sandler plays Barry Egan, a lonely struggling individual who makes the mistake of calling a phone-sex line. I enjoyed the cinematography and simple story line to the film, but also hard to not feel bad for the guy. Not your typical Sandler film.
IMDB: 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
#18 - Uncut Gems (DVD) - 2019 - High anxiety, with phenomenal acting by Sandler. He plays Howard Ratner, NYC jeweler who just can’t seem to do anything right. A gambling addict, who constantly is cheating people in attempt to overcome his debts. He finally hits it big on a bet with all-star NBA player KG.
IMDB: 7.4 (highest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
#17 - The Meyerowitz Stories - 2017 - The story of the Meyerowitz children and their dying father and what will happen with is storied artwork. Each of the children’s stories is told as they return to NYC for an event to celebrate their father. Sandler plays the son Danny. My first time seeing it and I was impressed!
IMDB: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (tied for his highest rating)
#16 - Grown Ups (Netflix) - 2010 - Just a bunch of dad’s teaching their kids how fun being a kid can be. Get rid of those electronics and have some old school fun outdoors! Five friends reunite after the passing of their legendary basketball coach, Sandler plays the best youth hooper, Lenny Feder.
IMDB: 5.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 11%
#15 - The Week Of (Netflix) - 2018 - Two families come together for the marriage of their two children. Sandler aka Kenny Lustig, tries to play host to all which doesn’t work in his favor. First time seeing this and it had some hilarious lines and painfully cringey and awkward scenes between Sandler and Chris Rock.
IMDB: 5.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 26%
#14 - Murder Mystery (Netflix) - 2019 - Fun spinoff of the Murder on the Orient Express, but has some great action and a twist at the end. Sandler, Nick Spitz, and his wife are headed on a Euro trip and end up on a billionaire’s yacht and get tangled in a mysterious murder. One of his best newer films, featuring Jennifer Aniston once again.
IMDB: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%
#13 - Mr. Deeds (DVD) - 2002 - When your long lost Uncle dies and you inherit billions, but you are too nice and don’t care about the money… Who doesn’t love the all-around good guy Longfellow Deeds? If I didn’t watch this movie a bunch growing up, not sure it would be ranked as high, but that is what the Summer of Sandler is all about!
IMDB: 5.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 22%
#12 - Click (DVD) - 2006 - Michael Newman takes control of his life with a remote! This one makes you realize you need to live in the moment and love your family. It may bring a tear to your eye throughout, but has a feel good ending and who doesn’t love a golden retriever!
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 34%
#11 - Pixels (DVD Library) - 2015 - This movie really surprised me as it was my first time seeing. It was like a super-hero action movie, but based around something that would never happen. Wait… is that all super-hero movies? I thought the overall plot, acting and comedy were top notch, as Brenner (Sandler) and his gaming buddies from grade school set out to save the world! Highly recommend, especially if you are a classic arcade game lover, want to see Kevin James be president, or love Q*Bert just as much as me!
IMDB: 5.6
Rotten Tomatoes: 18%
#10 - Airheads (DVD) - 1994 - Sandler, plays the dummer, Pip, and his fellow bandmates of the Lone Rangers stick up a radio show in order to be able to get their demo tape played on air.
IMDB: 6.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 29%
#9 - Spanglish (DVD) - 2004 - Beautiful and sincere romantic comedy. Sandler plays a 4-star chef, John Clasky, who falls in love with his non-english speaking live-in nanny. Definitely one of his best serious roles… do I say this about all his serious roles?
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 54%
#8 - The Wedding Singer (DVD) - 1998 - When rewatching this one, Rachel and I both never realized it was made in the late 90s and not the 1980s when it takes place. Robbie Hart is the wedding singer and brings us many legendary lines and quotes. Love Stinks!
IMDB: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
#7 - 50 First Dates (DVD) - 2004 - Sandler, Henry Roth, meets the girl of his dreams, but there is one problem, she doesn’t remember him every day because of a head injury. Love the concept of this movie and the execution by Sandler, Barrymore and the rest of the cast. Forgot how good of movie this was.
IMDB: 6.8
Rotten Tomatoes: 45%
#6 - Hustle (Netflix) - 2022 - Sandler is back with his latest movie, an Inspirational story about a NBA scout, Stanley Sugerman, and a rising basketball star. Phenomenal acting and probably Sandler’s most well-produced, serious film. Definitely watch this new one!
IMDB: 7.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (highest rating)
#5 - The Waterboy (DVD) - 1998 - Football! When a hidden talent farm boy in Louisiana goes from serving water to making tackles. Tons of classic lines and hits. Everyone wanted to play like Bobby Boucher growing up.
IMDB: 6.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 33%
#4 - Big Daddy (DVD) - 1999 - This one has always been fun and cute, but really hits different when you have your own child. Sonny Koufax takes custody of a child to impress his girlfriend and ends up doing an original, but great job raising Julian aka Frankenstein. Shoutout to Hooters, McDonalds and Scooba Steve!
IMDB: 6.4
Rotten Tomatoes: 39%
#3 - Reign Over Me (DVD) - 2007 - This one cuts deep. Wow such a great movie. Sandler should have won an Oscar for his work in this serious drama playing the role of widowed Charlie Fineman. One of my favorite movies of all-time.
IMDB: 7.4 (highest rating)
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
#2 - Happy Gilmore (DVD) - 1996 - A golf classic with so many historic lines and scenes. 9th green at nine. Ben Stiller as a nurse to Happy’s grandma. Only 364 days until hockey tryouts. I can go on and on. Who hasn’t tried the Happy Gilmore drive on the course? Just a straight up gem.
IMDB: 7.0
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
#1 - Billy Madison (DVD) - 1995 - That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of ace! Absolute classic. I can nearly recite every line from this one. Sure my Dad hated Sandler and this movie growing up, but we all loved him and this movie. Chris Farley and Norm McDonald with some great additions. Billy has to prove to his dad he should own their million dollar hotel company by re-doing all 12 grades in just weeks.
IMDB: 6.3
Rotten Tomatoes: 41%
And that concludes our Summer of Sandler. My favorite thing about Sandler from watching all of his movies is that he creates them just how he wants to. Despite the critic reviews, he doesn’t change his style. It’s just him and his buddies making movies (and a lot of money) they think would be funny. I also love how Sandler includes many of the same actors in his films. Whether they are small roles or large roles, you can always find a familiar face. Some of the obvious ones are Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi, Jonathan Loughran, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and his wife Jackie Sandler. Others I wouldn’t have realized if not for the Summer of Sandler include Henry Winkler, Shaq, and Dan Patrick.
Sandler almost always plays one of two roles in his movies. A rich guy who wishes he had a simple life and doesn’t care about his wealth, or a pretty dumb guy.
Another takeaway I had while watching these films is that depending when you first saw the movies had a large impact on the rating. Many of the films I consider “classics”, Rachel was not as big of a fan. But we both had a fun time watching all of Adam Sandler’s movies this summer and recommend everyone with a spare 77 hours do the same!
What movies did I rank too low? Too high? Let me know what you think… and prepare for the Fall of _____.
Josh
