The Wedding Singer
Release year: 1998
My Rating: ★★★½ out of 5
Tagline: He’s gonna party like it’s 1985!
Synopsis: Robbie, a local rock star turned wedding singer, is dumped on the day of his wedding. Meanwhile, waitress Julia finally sets a wedding date with her fiancée Glenn. When Julia and Robbie meet and hit it off, they find that things are more complicated than anybody thought.
We have reached our next Adam Sandler "classic". And yeah, I do think this one earns that title. To me The Wedding Singer just a straight up good movie. I wouldn't say it is above and beyond in any way, but it is also one of the few Adam Sandler movies I don't have much bad to say about it.
Billy Idol in “The Wedding Singer”
It's pretty funny, not quite as much as Happy Gilmore, but there are multiple earned laugh out loud moments. The main one that comes to mind for me as my favorite would have to be Adam Sandler's angry, sad song in the middle of the movie. Also how can we talk about the comedy in this movie without mentioning how great the Billy Idol cameo is. This is probably in my top 3 celebrity roles in all Adam Sandler movies, and he fits in so well.
Adam Sandler I think works well in roles like these. Ones where he is clearly the sweet person you want to root for and get the girl. I think that aspect alone would make any actor fine in these movies, but I think Sandler's goofiness makes him a lot more endearing. He's not just a nice guy, but he's a nice guy who will make you and the love interest laugh.
Speaking of the love interest, they must have realized that they struck gold when they cast Drew Barrymore. Barrymore is the love interest in 2 other Adam Sandler movies, and that is clearly because of how well the pair work together here. They have so much chemistry, more so than any other love interest actress, and it goes a long way into what makes the movie stand out. Of course you want them to get together in the end because they seem like they're meant to be.
The highlight of the whole movie for me easily though is the song "Grow Old With You" that Sandler performs at the end of the movie. This is the type of passion for the role that you don't quite get from him as much anymore, but wow does he do an incredible job here. First off, if you didn't know, Adam Sandler has an incredible singing voice really at his best in this song. The first time I heard it I didn't think it was him because of how good it is. And the song is so sweet. One of the greatest love songs in film and my personal favorite song from any Adam Sandler movie. There's only a few Sandler movies that got me to cry, and this is one of them. That whole scene of him singing it on the plane is very iconic for a reason.
So something about this movie that is incredibly interesting is, and I could be wrong here, I think this movie invented 1980s nostalgia. 80s nostalgia in media is so played out at this point where so much of the music, tv shows, and movies we consume are homages to the decade. Especially after Stranger Things kinda ran it into the ground, I can't really get much out of it anymore. But it's actually really cool to see it so fully formed in The Wedding Singer despite it only releasing 13 years after the movie is set and 8 years after the decade ended. Like imagine if we were able to have 2013 and 2010s nostalgia so pinpointed as of now. That's pretty crazy isn't it!
The Wedding Singer is easily a top 10 Adam Sandler movie, and maybe always will be. Much of the movie doesn't have the high highs of Happy Gilmore, but it really sticks the landing at the end which makes the whole movie pay off. And while a movie like Billy Madison may also have the highlights towards the very end, The Wedding Singer is consistent throughout the rest to make it a much better watch. Would recommend!
