You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

Release year: 2023
My Rating: ★★★★ out of 5

Tagline: 7th grade drama just hits different.

Synopsis: Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who’ve always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.

Story time! After Murder Mystery 2 my friends and I gave up on trying to watch new Adam Sandler movies as they came out. So because of that, the new movies started to pile up over the last 3 years. So what did we do? Another 5 movie Adam Sandler marathon of course! Starting with You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.

I have a confession to make. I don't know if I would classify this as an Adam Sandler movie. He's definitely a side character. When we originally made our list of movies, we didn't really have to think about ones like this where Adam Sandler plays an important side character. Almost always when Adam Sandler is in a movie, he is one of the main characters, or a cameo. Probably the most debatable movie up to this point was Zookeeper starring Kevin James. Sandler voices a monkey in that movie, but is definitely not all that important to the plot. Joe Rogan is more relevant in that movie than Sandler is, so we decided not to count it. Maybe going back on You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, it probably doesn't count, but we watched it, and it's close enough.

However it is a "Sandler" movie. Maybe just not the one you were expecting. 

This is the starring debut of Adam Sandler's daughter, Sunny. Now Adam Sandler has always had his family in his movies, but for the most part they have been either cameos or side characters. The only exception was when Sandler's wife, Jackie, was the love interest in Eight Crazy Nights, but that was before they were married. But it really seems now like Adam Sandler is pushing his kids hard into the acting spotlight with this movie, Roommates, and the new movie Don't Say Good Luck, which I've heard pretty good things about. Yes, this is a nepo-baby movie. And maybe that would make me hate it more if I didn't really enjoy the movie.

I had so much fun with this movie. I feel like these movies aimed at kids, starring kids are usually pretty cringey and try to insert way too much pop culture. And they are written by adults so they feel so outdated or age poorly. But here, it feels so real to how kids actually are these days. I expected when watching this movie 3 years after it came out that it would have already aged so poorly, but it kinda stands out as a period piece. It feels incredibly 2023 in a really great way that acknowledges that it is a product of its time. Or maybe I'm wrong since I'm old now.

Sunny Sandler is really good in this, especially considering she's only 15. I'm sure she has had so much time to hone these skills over the years. She works really well here, and I kinda like the idea of Adam Sandler's kids becoming his spiritual successors. Maybe in a few years when his kids are in their mid-twenties, we'll get a bombastic comedy in the realm of Sandler's classics. 

Remember how I said a few posts ago that it felt like Adam Sandler was starting to care about what he creates again? I wonder if his kids are the reason why. His stakes are real now, the futures of his kids. He can't half-ass it because it's important to see his kids succeed. His love for his family is really one of the main reason's why I have begun to admire him so much. He's a man of love.

If you're childless or don't have a sibling near the age of the characters, eh, maybe you won't like it all that much like my friends. But if you have teenage kids or are one yourself, I highly recommend this movie. It won't be mind blowing or anything, but I think you will find an appreciation like I did.