After being snubbed at the Oscars for his performance in 2019’s “Uncut Gems,” Adam Sandler vowed to have his revenge by making ‘the worst movie ever.’ Sadly, “Hubie Halloween” is not that movie. If anything, it is Sandler’s “Lady in the Water” – an hour and forty minutes dedicated to lecturing the audience about why we really ought to stop being mean to its star.
The new Netflix comedy boasts an all-star cast and a promising premise – over-earnest local loser discovers there’s a real killer on the loose in Salem on Halloween. But from the moment Sandler first bikes onto screen as Hubie Dubois and opens his mouth, the bizarrely obnoxious voice he has cultivated for this role makes it abundantly clear what type of a movie this will be. And having endured that voice for the full duration of the movie, I can confirm – it is all downhill from there.
While Sandler seems determined to indulge every one of his worst comedic tendencies, everyone else involved brings their A-Game. Maya Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Kenan Thompson, Steve Buscemi, June Squibb, Julie Bowen and Kevin James all turn in the best they can give. Noah Schnapp and Paris Berelc carry the most prominent side-plot with earnest teen determination that left me wishing the movie was about them instead. But, alas, it's all Hubie, all the time.
In a movie with this identical set-up, but where Hubie fulfills a quirky supporting role could have been great. But instead Hubie/Sandler is the star (and also writing the script), so the film lives or dies on the ability of that combo to carry it home. And just like the countless victims piling up in superior Halloween films, BOY does it die.
The fatal flaw of “Hubie Halloween” is fairly simple – Overdoing literally everything except for the two things it is expected to deliver: horror and comedy. Hubie Dubois is not just a quirky loser, he’s an absurdly obnoxious caricature. His childhood crush isn't just secretly in love with him, she’s secretly obsessed with him. His bullies don’t just harass him because he’s annoying and easy to scare, they’re all secretly jealous of him. The solution to the mystery isn’t just a surprise, its completely nonsensical. And when all is said and done, the town of Salem hasn’t just decided to accept Hubie. They now worship him.
The creative team behind this movie, Sandler in particular, could have done well to learn the most important lesson young trick-r-treaters have to glean from Halloween: Moderation. Much like a pile of aggressively sweet Halloween candy, these tropes get the job done in small amounts. Take too much for too long and everyone just winds up sick.
This is what is so frustrating about “Hubie Halloween.” All of its problems could have been easily solved with a little restraint. Either don’t make Hubie the star or tone back his grating nature to make him more human. Let his romance feel natural, or have some self-awareness with how crazy his crush actually is. And acknowledge that while yes, people should stop bullying the hero, he still has some room to grow himself.
But just as Sandler has proved content to settle for low effort comedy with middling results in the latter half of his career, Hubie never grows, weathering any push to change just as Sandler weathers his critics. It’s hard to pass judgement on work so earnestly produced. Hubie is happy in remaining the same forever, but the audience can’t help but want to see him grow and better himself. The same can be said for the movie. It’s certainly free to keep peddling along and never reach its potential, but in the end, our natural impulse as an audience is to root for a true achievement. So when the hero, and the artist, settle for mediocrity, we can’t help but be disappointed.
If you’re looking for a sack full of spooky laughs this Halloween, go knocking at someone else’s door.
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