Netflix's latest Adam Sandler movie is none other than Hubie Halloween, a film about a dim-witted man-child who is trying to protect the people in his town from the terrors of October 31. The movie is sitting at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, dropping 10 points from a day before, and overall reviews haven't been too kind. However, Hubie Halloween may be this bad on purpose.

　　Back in 2019, Adam Sandler delivered a memorable performance in the movie Uncut Gems. Many people were speculating Sandler would win some sort of award for his role of jeweler Howard Ratner. Alas, when the Academy Award nominations came out, Sandler was not nominated. From there, Sandler went onto the Howard Stern Show and made a threat. "If I don't get [nominated], I'm going to f***ing come back and do one [movie] again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay," Sandler said. "That's how I get them."

　　While many laughed off the threat, Hubie Halloween may very well be the film Sandler was talking about. At about what I perceived to be the 40-minute mark of the movie, as Sandler muttered his way through his lines while whimsical music played in the background, I noticed that the movie was only 6-minutes in. Have I become trapped in a Sandler vortex? Is this how time works?

　　pic.twitter.com/pLaAiGUdU8

　　— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) October 7, 2020

　　Jokes were presented to the audience and then just hung in the air for way too long as the characters explained why the jokes are funny. In one scene early on, Hubie's mother wore a shirt that said "Boner Donor," which she and her son had a long conversation about. Neither of them realize that the definition of "boner" no longer means "a mistake," and it is now 100% sexual in nature. That's the joke. This is a setup and punchline routine that continues ad nauseam throughout the movie.

　　However, the heart of the story is a man trying to help his community, saving them from unknown dangers, but everyone in the town is a jerk to him. It's Hubie against the world, or Sandler against the world--if you're looking into the story way too much like I am.

　　And while the unfunny, time-sucking romp is a rough watch, that's the endearing thing about it. Hubie Halloween is another movie to put on in the background while you do something else. It's dumb but fun. And believing that Sandler truly wanted to make a movie purposely bad to make us "all pay," makes Hubie Halloween that much more watchable.

　　Sure, this seems like the bomb that Sandler threatened to drop on the world after his Oscar snub, but it's certainly not the worst thing in the world. It's Sandler and a bunch of his friends goofing around for what feels like three hours. In other words, it's like most Adam Sandler movies. And in 2020, a year where everything seemingly sucks, this is not the worst thing in the world by a longshot.

　　Mat Elfring on Google+