I Mark S

I was truly looking forward to seeing Adam Sandler in this much ballyhooed breakout role, but I was sorely disappointed. The movie was choppy and he overacted in his role as a hopelessly self-absorbed compulsive gambler. Idina Menzel fell flat as his long-suffering wife, (actually, the actress who played his girlfriend turned in one of the better performances) and Judd Hirsh was wasted in a trifle role as his father. Adam Sandler is a good actor; he should not have tried so hard to push the envelope in every scene — It ended up being a long and tedious study of a life in constant, unrepentant turmoil.