'Hubie Halloween' is the latest Netflix original movie from Adam Sandler. The actor plays Hubie in the "comedy" feature, a self-appointed whistleblower and protector to his hometown of Salem. The police, particularly Sgt. Steve Downing (Kevin James) find him an irritant while kids and adults alike of the town mock him, that is except for Violet Valentine (Julie Bowen), who Hubie has a crush on. When locals start to disappear, at the same time that an inmate has escaped, on Halloween night, Hubie takes it upon himself to investigate the situation.
'Hubie Halloween' is barely a movie. It’s more like watching a bunch of sketches that didn't make it into the final cut in other movies, strewn together. Within minutes, our "hero" has projectile vomited, driven his bike into something - not once, but twice - and fallen over, and farted in front of his neighbour. The film never gets any better than that.
One is so weary at this point at the perpetual man-child archetype that Sandler insists on playing in these movies (a problem he shares, one has to admit, with Will Ferrell's oeuvre). At one point, he tells some kids he needs a big toilet because he has "got a lot to do". It's all just so grotesque and unfunny; and whereas at least some of Sandler's older work, such as 'The Wedding Singer' and 'The Waterboy', had some heart to it, 'Hubie Halloween' comes across as lazy and pointless.
Aside from having little by way of direction, it also drags and drags. The appearance of the actor's friends like Kevin James, Ben Stiller and Rob Schneider feels tiresome and inevitable; Sandler has even cast his two daughters in the movie this time around. Elsewhere, the likes of Ray Liotta, Maya Rudolph, Steve Buscemi and Shaq pop up, all in sequences that fall flat (mind you, one is ever so slightly amused by the Liotta bloopers in the closing credits - feel free to fast forward through the movie and watch these alone).
One is baffled by how Sandler has reaped such success at Netflix but clearly there's an audience out their that find his sense of humour - with gags in this film including an old lady dressed as a pilgrim talking about being horny, men soiling themselves, and a husky dog taking a dump and eating his own sh** - entertaining. This year the actor signed a four-movie deal worth up to $275 million with the streaming service. So expect some more crap like this film soon.
'Hubie Halloween' is streaming on Netflix now.
Read Next
