Two Degrees of Adam Sandler

Mr. Carty considered Will Ferrel's role in Stranger Than Fiction as the "straight man". This blog post has nothing to do with Will Ferrel.

The straight man is, by association, the most normal character in his inner circle, if not the plot entirely. Think about the people Harold works with. Think about Dave. Think about Harold's reaction to Dave and his surroundings. That's kind of the way I prefer Ferrel and his ilk. To compare and contrast, I reccomend you watch Jack and Jill.

While not the pinnacle of Sandler's resume, this movie is an excellent case study in two types of comedy. Jill represents everything I hate about Sandler comedy; she's childish, obnoxious, and about as subtle as a neon-green elephant with cymbals on its feet. Jack is everything I enjoy about Sandler comedy; he's just kinda walking down the street, sees a hobo with a banana, and he's just like, "Huh. That sure is a hobo." Then he moves onto the next scene. He's so good at straight-man comedy that you wonder why he spends so much screen-time flapping his arms and making inane faces at the camera.