Hubie Halloween (2020) Review

Hubie Halloween (2020) Review

Dir. Steve Brill

Cringeworthy Comedy is not Sandler's worst. 

 

The works of Adam Sandler fool nobody anymore. Everyone knows that his last several films have been merely excuses for him and his comedy pals to jet off to exotic islands and get into crazy hijinks with studio paid getaways. 

When Sandler surprised everyone with an award contending role in the Safti brothers film Uncut Gems earlier this year, he joked that if the film didn’t win him an Oscar he would make a purposefully bad movie. His worst yet. Many assumed that this, a return to his comedy roots, is said bad movie. I don’t think so.

Hubie Halloween is different. Yes it’s bad. But it’s a damn sight less hollow than any of Sandler's recent efforts. It’s not an excuse for a holiday, as it’s set in suburban middle America in the middle of October, and it also has a surprising amount of heart (it’s small, but it’s there).

 

Hubie Halloween features possibly the most annoying voice ever put on screen. Sandler has out-Sandlered himself. It’s painfully bad. It was just about funny to do a stupid-person voice 20 years ago (Officer Doofy in scary movie pops into mind) . Now, it feels tired and more importantly tiring to watch.

 

Many of the jokes are a repeat of the same couple formulas throughout. Formula one: Hubie makes a fool of himself in public place. Public proceed to throw projectiles at him. 

Formula two: Hubie is pranked by mean townsfolk. He falls over in fright.

It really is that simple.

Yet whenever it breaks this formula and does a slightly more original sight gag, or throwaway line, it does sometimes elicit a good chuckle. It just about passed the 6 laugh test for me. Most of those laughs coming in towards the end. 

 

I did find myself wondering who the movie is aimed at. The comedy is so juvenile you’d be easily mistaken for thinking it’s a children’s movie. Yet there’s adult, sexual humour throughout that prevents it being a kids film. I can only assume it’s for that niche Venn diagram cross section of pubescent teens that are old enough to know what the word horny means, yet also still laugh at a man falling over and doing a silly voice. 

 

That being said , it’s not a badly made movie. There is production value behind it. It never feels overly cheap, and it’s edited with effort and competence. What’s lacking is the comedy writing. Its bolstered by a few celebrity cameos. Some you’d expect (Maya Rudolph, Kevin James) others are a surprise (Come on Ray Liotta, you’re better than this!). 

 

Ultimately, Hubie Halloween is a regular Sandler flick. Yet it does have a moral; Be kind. Simple thought it may be, it does resonate well in 2020. While the laughs are thinly spread, Hubie Halloween never offends to the point where you feel like you can’t watch anymore. It’s simple, stupid and just the sort of film you can stick on in the background on a Halloween holiday. 

 

 

5/10 

 

 

Review by Elliott Thomas Griffiths