web counter
 

Incontrovertible Evidence of the Adam Sandler Curse

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (26)

Kate-Beckinsale2.jpg

I’ve long talked about the Sandler curse, but with Grown Ups coming out today, and poor Salma Hayek playing the love interest opposite Sandler, I thought it might be instructive to look back at the wake of career destruction that Sandler has wrought since he became an A-list movie star. It’s not pretty. In fact, with two exceptions — Marisa Tomei and Drew Barrymore — no actress that has starred as a love interest in a Sandler film has even come close to duplicating the box-office success of that Sandler film, save for Liv Tyler, who had a small blip with The Incredible Hulk, but has otherwise molsty disappeared from the film scene. In fact, in most cases, the actress playing opposite Sandler began a usually steep descent into relative obscurity or ultimately resorted to television work. Her film success has never been the same.

I’m not being hyperbolic here, folks. Adam Sandler kills careers, and I have evidence below to prove it. The good news, however, is that in his next film, he stars opposite Jennifer Aniston, which should finally put the nail in her career coffin, and in the movie after that, Jack and Jill, Sandler plays the female lead in his own film (he’ll be playing the part of both Jack and Jill). Hopefully, the Sandler curse will finally turn itself on Sandler.


  • Bridgette Wilson (Billy Madison)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: 5th Billed in I Know What You Did Last Summer

  • Julie Bowen (Happy Gilmore)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: The love interest in Tim Allen’s Joe Somebody

  • Fairuza Balk (Waterboy)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Fourth Billed in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

  • Joey Lauren Adams (Big Daddy)

  • Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Best friend role in The Break-Up

  • Patricia Arquette (Little Nicky)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: A small role in Holes?

  • Emily Watson (Punch-Drunk Love)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Roles in Synecdoche, New York and Cold Souls

  • Winona Ryder (Mr. Deeds)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: A small role in Star Trek

  • Marisa Tomei (Anger Management)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Female lead in
    Wild Hogs

  • Paz Vega (Spanglish)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Plaster of Paris in The Spirit

  • Kate Beckinsale (Click)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: The lead in
    Whiteout

  • Liv Tyler (Reign Over Me)
    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: The Incredible Hulk

  • Jessica Biel (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: The A-Team

  • Emmanuelle Chriqui (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Bambi in Women in Trouble

  • Keri Russell (Bedtime Stories)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Extraordinary Measures (She has now returned to television, starring in a series this fall on Fox).

  • Leslie Mann (Funny People)

    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: None









    Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance

    ← Book Review: "Band of Brothers : E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest" by Stephen E. Ambrose | Dear God, Twilight Fans Are Sad, Sad People | Sad, Sad Not Funny Sad →









    Comments

    Marisa Tomei (Anger Management)
    Best Film Role She’s Had Since Her Sandler Movie Was Released: Female lead in
    Wild Hogs

    Um, THE WRESTLER?! Before the Devil Knows You're Dead?! Couldn't do an IMDB search on this?

    Also, Leslie Mann hasn't been in another movie because it's been ONE YEAR! And it's not like she was a hot commodity outside her husband's movies before that.

    Posted by: ChristianH at June 25, 2010 10:19 AM

    • In fact, with two exceptions — Marisa Tomei and Drew Barrymore...

    Barrymore is an exception? Really?

    Posted by: admin at June 25, 2010 10:26 AM

    I don't think the Adam Sandler movie killed any of their careers. Rather, they are (almost) all B-level, mediocre actresses and playing a one-dimensional role designed to be a second banana not so surprisingly did not change their status.

    The fact that some of the older actresses(by Hollywood standards anyway) on this list (Winona Ryder, Patricia Arquette, Marisa Tomei) even had to take a role in an Adam Sandler movie says more about the availability of good female roles than it does about the effect of an Adam Sandler movie on a career.

    Posted by: maceo at June 25, 2010 10:30 AM

    I'm not a Sandler fan, but it's not like these ladies had consistently fantastic careers before starring in a Sandler film. You're giving him too much credit.

    Posted by: misty at June 25, 2010 10:35 AM

    I don't recall Emily Watson having been real prolific prior to her Sandler partnership. But I do love Synecdoche.

    Further, Marisa Tomei actually seems to have done pretty well for herself.

    And as for Jessica Biel, well, she finally let us see her boobs. I didn't see that whole movie, and I doubt anyone else did either. What matters is not how or why they came out, or even the quality of the context. All that matters is that we've seen them, and the world is a better place for it.

    If that was Adam Sandlers "fault," then I say we give the man a medal. Or a medallion.

    Posted by: coryo at June 25, 2010 10:42 AM

    Isn't Marisa Tomei also in Cyrus? Which is doing quite well for itself? Also as mentioned before, the Wrestler didn't suck. (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was atrocious so I'm leaving it out) Aside from her, though, you're right. Although let's give Leslie Mann some more time - Funny People was pretty recent and she's married to Apatow.

    Posted by: nolalola26 at June 25, 2010 10:50 AM

    No, seriously DR.

    Marisa Tomei (Anger Management)...

    You dropped the ball on this one.

    I'd also wait on Leslie Mann, since you yourself (can't remember) have reported on her being cast in The Hangover for Ladies.

    You've also got a whole bunch of ladies who are, at best, marginally talented. Liv Tyler was in LOTR, but it's not like she was ZOMG AMAZING. Joey Lauren Adams got older and lost the spunk, Julie Bowen was never anything special, Fairuza Balk looks like a capuchin, and Winona Ryder is Winona Ryder.

    It's an interesting thought, but I think the best counter to this list is that none of these actresses (save Tomei who shouldn't be here) are really anything special; none of them are good enough to headline their own movies, and Leslie Mann has a big project on the horizon for which you've ignore.

    Posted by: D-Day at June 25, 2010 10:57 AM

    seriously dude, the inclusion of Tomei (or the lack of an acknowledgment that she completely defies the rest of the list) makes this otherwise insightful and shockingly consistent list sooo much less powerful. probably should have just left her off...

    Posted by: dg at June 25, 2010 11:00 AM

    Yeah, Tomei's performance in The Wrestler managed to just blow this list off.

    Can we otoh pray that the "Sandler Curse" strike Kevin James before Paul Blart 2 and David Spade and Rob Schneider before they next draw breath?

    Posted by: Fredo at June 25, 2010 11:29 AM

    I didn't even recognize Julie Bowen with that hairdo! But hairdos aside, if you're going to mention Keri Russel's upcoming tv show, it's really unfair not to note that Julie Bowen is on one of the most popular comedies on air right now, Modern Family. I mean, c'mon? Not to mention Patricia Arquette's never-ending run on Medium, which while not "awesome" should at least get points for longevity.

    Have to agree, most of these are just actresses that weren't getting very fantastic roles even before Sandler stepped in.

    Posted by: valerie at June 25, 2010 11:58 AM

    It's also a bit of a stretch to say that Liv Tyler was Sandler's love interest. She was his psychotherapist and actually helped facilitate a pairing between Sandler's character and another one of her patients. More than anything, Don Cheadle was Sandler's opposite in Reign Over Me.

    Posted by: SZ at June 25, 2010 12:42 PM

    I figured the Marisa Tomei thing was, you know, a joke. But then y'all got mad.

    Posted by: TSF at June 25, 2010 12:54 PM

    Julie Bowen just switched her interest from movies to tv after Happy Gilmore. Who could forget her as Carol Vessey?

    Posted by: Dude at June 25, 2010 12:59 PM

    Julie Bowen is really a TV actress: Ed, Boston Legal, Modern Family.

    Isn't Joey Adams directing these days? Her voice alone limits her roles.

    Posted by: bananapanda at June 25, 2010 1:13 PM

    Thanks for the comment transfer, DR. Seriously, you're a damn good sport, and I commend you for your kindness.

    Now for more bitching: Patricia Arquette has had a pretty decently mid-to-high-profile gig on TV, so that's not a complete bust.

    Winona Ryder fucked herself in so many ways outside of a Sandler movie. Plus, she did have one of the funniest parts in David Wain's The Ten. And while we're on the subject, did anyone else think her Star Trek cameo was bullshit? What, they couldn't get an older actress instead of putting AWFUL old-person makeup on a relatively young actress who looks nothing like her character's son?

    Also, it's tough to say that Liv Tyler or Jessica Biel are victims of this curse. More likely they're victims of the "bad actressin'" curse.

    Wait, wasn't Snow Angels post-Click? Far be it from me to defend Kate Beckinsale for anything above the neck, but that was a damn sight better than Whiteout.

    Still, Adam Sandler needs to quit making shitty movies. I think we can all agree on that point. I was especially pissed after Funny People, because I was like, "That's right! You do have a soul! And now you've made fun of all your shitty movies from the past...maybe you'll start to make good choices!"

    Then I saw the trailer for that piece of shit with James and Rock and Spade and whoever else. God damn it all.

    Posted by: ChristianH at June 25, 2010 4:17 PM

    Ahh, didn't Keri Russell star in the great "Waitress"? That was a really good movie...

    And ditto for the B-lister (or even C/D lister) comment above: Sandler's movies don't relegate them to lower "lists". It's exactly where he picks them up.

    Posted by: jpguy13 at June 25, 2010 4:26 PM

    Apparently you've never heard of The Wrestler. I highly recommend it.

    Posted by: mightyboosh at June 25, 2010 5:07 PM

    It just goes to show how contrary we Pajibans are. Just look at us, jumping to the defense of Adam Sandler.

    It doesn't matter to me whether he killed these actresses' careers or not.

    He foisted Grown Ups on us, people!!! The man is clearly evil.

    Posted by: Jelinas at June 25, 2010 5:23 PM

    Patricia Arquette has been starring in her own t.v. show for about six years.

    Posted by: ecp at June 25, 2010 5:59 PM

    "The good news, however, is that in his next film, he stars opposite Jennifer Aniston, which should finally put the nail in her career coffin"


    Sandler, FTW!

    Posted by: BarbadoSlim at June 25, 2010 7:14 PM

    I figured the Marisa Tomei thing was, you know, a joke. But then y'all got mad.

    Everyone should know by now:

    You. don't. FUCK. with. the. TOMEI.

    BITCHES.

    Posted by: Vermillion at June 25, 2010 8:34 PM

    Joey Lauren Adams has a small but important role in The United States of Tara right now too, And has done a few guest episodes of Party Down, which is more than we've seen of her in a while

    Posted by: Courtney at June 26, 2010 8:36 AM

    Jennifer Aniston has two promising projects after Just Go With It, more promising than what she's done before. Horrible Bosses and Wanderlust.

    Posted by: ASFan at June 26, 2010 9:33 AM

    BUT how much you wanna bet Aniston will suck BADLY in those movies? Because she can't act. It's going to be another version of Rachel because she's always Rachel and dresses like Rachel and talks like Rachel because that's all she does is Rachel and it's always Rachel ad nauseum . . .

    PLEASE Sandler, put that one-trick pony out of her misery.

    Posted by: saphire at June 27, 2010 2:23 AM

    Also, Jessica Biel's apparently pretty good (not only pretty) in Easy Virtue.

    Posted by: FabMax at June 27, 2010 9:20 AM

    UM...LESLIE ANN WAS IN BIG DADDY WAY BACK IN THE 90S AND SHES BEEN PRETTY SUCCESSFUL SINCE

    Posted by: monsterdick at June 28, 2010 7:36 PM