Admit it: If you saw a guy who looked like Adam Sandler walking down the street with an babe like, say, Kate Beckinsale, you’d say, “What’s a girl like that doing with him?”
In “Click,” which opens today (see review on Page 1F), Sandler and Beckinsale play a couple whose lives get wild and crazy after Michael (Sandler) is given a remote control that can alter his life.
Clearly, the film is a fantasy. But it’s not the first time the goofy “Saturday Night Live” alumnus has landed a co-star out of his league.
Sandler has been gradually climbing the Hollywood hottie ladder since his earliest films. After the magic of movies is accounted for, we’re left to decide that the old maxim must be true: Despite Sandler’s fashion flubs, flabby love handles and infantile jokes, his characters can make the ladies laugh.
But is there truth in that? Here’s a rundown of how lucky Sandler has been in the movies, women-wise – and how Hollywood might differ from reality.
Kate Beckinsale in “Click” (2006) The British star landed herself in a love triangle between studs Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett in “Pearl Harbor” and was the lovely Ava Gardner opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes in “The Aviator.” Now she’s the wife to Sandler’s couch-potato architect?
Beckinsale has been quoted as saying, “If someone had told me years ago that sharing a sense of humor was vital to partnerships, I could have avoided a lot of sex!”
Bridgette Wilson in “Billy Madison” (1995) Sandler, as the adult-redoing-grade-school Billy Madison, uses, as a suave pickup line, an offer to share some stolen milk.
Wilson’s Veronica Vaughn – clearly someone in touch with her inner child – is a teacher who falls for the guy who’s an outer child; she even goes so far as stripping to help Billy study.
Despite the hotness gap, it seems that here, like attracts like – though in real life, Wilson is married to tennis stud Pete Sampras.
Winona Ryder in “Mr. Deeds” (2002) Unlike in most of his other films, Sandler’s Longfellow Deeds is sweet-natured, wealthy and refrains from speaking gibberish – which makes it surprising that he would fall for Ryder’s deceptive journalist character. Of course, in reality, the comic did the deed of being one of the first to co-star with Ryder after her infamous shoplifting incident, so he gets points for generosity.
Still, Sandler is no Matt Damon or Johnny Depp, Ryder’s one-time loves.
Marisa Tomei in “Anger Management” (2003) Sandler’s biggest co-star to date may have been Jack Nicholson in this crazy-guy matchup, but that didn’t overshadow Sandler’s love interest, Tomei, who followed up her second Academy Award nomination by playing the gal pal of Sandler’s irritatingly passive character. But dealing with a grumpy Sandler would probably take more therapy than just anger management.
Drew Barrymore in “50 First Dates” (2004) Barrymore first starred opposite Sandler in 1998’s smash “The Wedding Singer.” By six years later, the actress had re-energized her girl power by producing and starring in the two “Charlie’s Angels” films and co-starring in George Clooney’s freshman directorial effort, “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” Onscreen, their pairing had sparks again, so half a point, Adam.
Tea Leoni and Paz Vega in “Spanglish” (2004) Sandler may play a four-star chef in this film, but he’s no Rocco DiSpirito. But he has two lovely co-stars unrealistically fighting over him. Thank the talented actresses for making the tinny drama seem real: Leoni is a savvy comedian (and married to heartthrob David Duchovny in real life), while Spanish beauty Vega knows the overcooked drama of telenovelas. But c’mon, they’re too hot for him.
