PG. 1 hour, 33 minutes. At area theaters.
Among the famous people who make cameo appearances in the new Adam Sandler comedy “Jack and Jill”: Johnny Depp, John McEnroe, David Spade, Shaquille O’Neal, Drew Carrey, Christie Brinkley, Michael Irvin, Regis Philbin, Dana Carvey and even Jared Fogle, the guy from the Subway sandwich commercials.
Total number of laughs all this amassed star power generates: One.
The bit with Depp, who has an amusing exchange with Al Pacino, made me chuckle. Yes, Pacino is also in “Jack and Jill,” playing himself. And Pacino gives the movie his all. Method is Method, whether you’re working with David Mamet or Dennis Dugan.
Dugan is a TV and film (mostly TV) actor who has directed many of Sandler’s pictures. So why isn’t Dugan better-known, considering his track record of box-office hits?
First, because he’s terrible at his job (this movie looks cheap and crummy). Second, because Dugan isn’t bad enough for anyone to remember.
“Jack and Jill” contains long stretches of squirm-inducing tedium in which Sandler riffs and ad-libs far longer than he should, as if he thought that wearing a dress would immediately turn anything he did into comedy gold. Why didn’t anyone on the set (or even the editing room) tell him how irritating he was?
Playing Jack Sadelstein, an L.A. ad exec dreading the annual holiday visit of his twin sister, Jill (also Sandler), the actor is obviously having fun. But the party doesn’t include the audience.
