Big Daddy

Directed by Dennis Dugan, Big Daddy details the wacky shenanigans that ensue after a slacker (Adam Sandler’s Sonny Koufax) agrees to take care of a young boy (Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse’s Julian McGrath). It’s familiar yet workable subject matter that’s employed to decent (if mostly unspectacular) effect by Dennis Dugan, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Steve Franks, Tim Herlihy, and Sandler, delivers an amiable comedy that receives plenty of mileage out of Sandler’s typically ingratiating efforts – with the actor’s less-than-subtle yet often hilarious performance effectively anchoring the proceedings through its erratically-paced narrative. (There’s little doubt, as well, that the picture benefits from the work of top-notch periphery players like Rob Schneider, Josh Mostel, and Joey Lauren Adams, although it’s Steve Buscemi’s scene-stealing turn as a homeless man that remains the movie’s most engaging, entertaining attribute.) And while the narrative’s hit-and-miss bent does pave the way for a small handful of lulls, Big Daddy does, generally speaking, come off as a solid Sandler vehicle that sustains one’s interest for the duration of its 93 minute running time.

**1/2 out of ****