To Hell and Back
Little Nicky
Review by Ross Anthony

Be prepared to spend the first twenty minutes in humor hell, where several big name actors flop over gags that can't beat a rubber chicken on the funnymeter. Wait, I take that back, a ghoul with breasts on his head is pretty funny.

Adam is the daft third son of the current reigning devil. The older two sons missing a chance at dad's throne decide to escape on up to Earth, freezing the fiery gates to hell Little Nickyand leaving pops to decompose appendage by appendage for a full week. Adam is the only one who can save dad. He must bop on down to Earth, capture his brothers in a whiskey flask and bring them both back to Hell before the seventh day.

The film takes a break from being horrible once Adam gets "down to Earth." Here the film is still not good, but lovable despite - and the hearty-laugh to wincing-groan ratio improves as well. Several very funny bits coaxed audible chuckles from this narrow-eyed crowd. Managing to avoid a slip back into the horrible, "Little Nicky" never breaks into the excellent, or even the very good.

Sort of a "Dogma" lite (way lite), "Nicky" still may capture the amore of a certain party animal crowd just after they've mauled a refer-laced cake seeking only to satiate their craving for the less than silly. Perhaps it'll even become the next "Rocky Horror" - who knows?



  • Little Nicky. Copyright © 2000. Rated PG-13.
  • Starring Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Allen Cover, Tommy Lister, JR. Kevin Nealon, Jon Lovitz, Quentin Tarantino, Rodney Dangerfield.
  • Directed by Steven Brill.
  • Written by Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler, Steven Brill.
  • Produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo at NewLine/Happy Madison/REC.



Grade..........................B-



Copyright © 2000. Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more reviews visit: RossAnthony.com


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Last Modified: Saturday, 16-Sep-2006 08:04:59 PDT