Adam Sandler's 15 Best Movies

A sequel nearly 30 years in the making, Happy Gilmore 2 follows Sandler's titular hot-tempered hockey player-turned-golfer as he comes out of retirement in order to earn money to pay for his daughter's ballet school tuition. As he shakes off the rust, he faces his old nemesis Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) and reconnects with the things he loves — the game and his family.

"The sequel is another indication that Sandler is still undertaking his longtime mission of making silly comfort-food comedies with the stealth seriousness of older age." —Jesse Hassenger , The A.V. Club

Sandler teamed up with Jack Nicholson for this comedy, which grossed nearly $200 million in 2003 and spawned a loose TV series adaptation starring Charlie Sheen several years later that Sandler had nothing to do with. In the film, Sandler plays Dave Buznik, a guy who gets sentenced to take anger management therapy with Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), whose methods are highly unorthodox but help Dave become more confident. 

Critics didn't hate Anger Management, but they didn't love it, either. Many writers enjoyed Sandler and Nicholson's chemistry, but found the film to be crude and one-note, with execution not as strong as the premise. 

"A wild-haired, wild-eyed Nicholson may be a humorous sight, but he needs more than those devilish eyebrows to make the concept work. Sandler, a fairly appealing straight man, never really gets to cut loose. What we're left with is an unfocused, rambling concept that lumbers off the ground but never really soars to the level of lunacy it could, especially at the afterthought of an ending, which is nonsensical at best." —Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

Sandler stars in this Netflix comedy as the title character, a simple man who loves Halloween. Everyone in Hubie's town laughs at him and plays pranks on him, but he gets the last laugh when he saves Halloween by finding out who is kidnapping local residents. 

The film received mixed reviews from critics for being unmemorable, but they were much less negative than they would have been had this movie come out during Sandler's 1990s heyday, when he made several movies about simple-minded man-children like this that critics hated and audiences loved. Nowadays, Sandler has demonstrated that he has a range of talents and his good-natured comedy (this is an anti-bullying movie) comes off as endearing and nostalgic, so critics aren't as hard on him. 

"There's a certain sweetness and mawkish charm to Sandler's performance as someone who never puts himself first and always prioritizes the well-being of others. However, the message gets incredibly heavy-handed by the time the third act rolls around, eventually sinking into saccharine sentimentality as the predictable mystery at the center of the narrative is eventually unraveled." —Scott Campbell, We Got This Covered

Sandler reprises his voice role as Dracula, who owns a hotel for monsters, in the animated family comedy franchise's third outing. He and his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) take a vacation on a monsters-only cruise ship. He falls in love with the ship's human captain, Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), who is actually the great-grandaughter of Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan) and plans to use the cruise to destroy the monsters. Will Drac's love change her mind? 

While this was the best-reviewed film of the Hotel Transylvania franchise, those reviews were still mixed. Critics rated it for its well-executed change of scenery and clever visual gags, but dinged it for its thin plot.

"Hotel Transylvania 3 may lack the indelibility of the medium's best offerings for kids, but hopefully its clear theme of acceptance lingers long after the inoffensive odor of its fart jokes dissipates." —Kimber Myers, Los Angeles Times

In this satirical action comedy, Sandler plays Zohan, an Israeli super-soldier who wants to be a hairstylist. He fakes his own death and moves to New York City, where he becomes one of the city's top stylists. Eventually, his enemies find him, but, having fallen in love with Palestinian American pacifist Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Zohan chooses to mediate peace rather than fight. 

Like many of Sandler's movies, Zohan received mixed reviews due to its inconsistency; sometimes the jokes are funny, and sometimes they fall flat. However, many critics did express pleasant surprise at the film's unexpectedly thoughtful and iconoclastic politics (by the standards of an Adam Sandler movie).  

"Sandler plays the title character as an over-the-top cross between Paul Bunyan, Rambo, and Warren Beatty in Shampoo." —Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club

In this moody direct-to-Netflix sci-fi drama, Sandler stars as Jakub Procházka, a Czech astronaut on a solitary mission to explore a mysterious dust cloud near Jupiter. He left his pregnant wife Lenka (Carrie Mulligan) behind to go on the mission, and she wants to end their marriage. As his mental state deteriorates due to his loneliness, Jakub finds a giant, telepathic spider (voiced by Paul Dano) who helps him with his emotional problems. 

Spaceman received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Sandler's performance but found the movie to be undeveloped overall, squandering the presence of Mulligan and failing to make the emotional beats land. Many reviews noted its slow pace, reliance on cliches, and overly self-serious tone. 

"We've seen him do dramatic work before, but this is arguably one of his toughest performances — it's a very internal character, and the usual Sandler yelling outburst never presents itself. Instead, the actor takes on the challenge of playing someone so depressed and lonely that his emotions are almost palpable. Sandler has never looked so sad." —Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Robbie Hart (Sandler) is a wedding singer in suburban New Jersey in 1985. His fiancée leaves him at the altar, because she fell in love with his ambition to become a rock star, and now he's stuck in a rut. He gets out of it through his friendship with Julia (Drew Barrymore), who hires him to sing at her wedding. As they get closer, their feelings for each other deepen, even as their romance faces numerous obstacles before it can start. 

The romantic comedy was Sandler's first film to demonstrate his range as an actor, and critics enjoyed his earnest performance and his musical ability; he wrote and performed a number of original songs for the movie. 

"Sandler has an appealing demeanor when he acts like an adult, which, I am pleased to report, he does through most of this movie. There's a little edge to his attitude but plenty of sweetness." —Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Examiner

When movie star George Simmons (Sandler), who has become rich and famous starring in bad, Sandler-esque comedies, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he returns to his first love: stand-up comedy, with the help of young comic Ira "Schmira" Wright (Seth Rogen). As he and Ira become friends and he reconnects with his creative spirit, he also reconnects with his ex-fiancée Laura (Leslie Mann) as he tries to fix the mistakes he made in life. 

Funny People was Sandler's first (and so far, only) time starring in a movie for Judd Apatow, 2000s comedy kingpin and Sandler's roommate when they were both starting out in show business. The film received mixed reviews, with positive ones praising its thematic ambition and negative ones criticizing its length (it clocks in at nearly two-and-a-half hours). 

"It's too long, but scene by scene, it's never boring. The story unfolds in leisurely swaths that could be regarded either as rich explorations of character or self-indulgent digressions." —Dana Stevens, Slate

In this highly emotional dramedy, Sandler plays Charlie, a man whose wife and daughters were on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Five years later, he's severely struggling with his grief, but then a chance run-in with his college roommate, Alan (Don Cheadle), leads to a rekindled friendship that helps both of them. 

Critics were uncomfortable with the film's use of 9/11 as a plot device, but otherwise admired Sandler's intense performance, which was the most dramatic of his career to that point, as well as Cheadle's co-lead performance.

"Again adopting a dramatic persona, Sandler shows his desire to do more than be a Happy Gilmore for the rest of his career. His work here is decent, though hardly revelatory, but his game is raised several notches by Cheadle's masterful presence." —Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

Sandler lends his voice to the titular reptile in this animated family comedy for Netflix. He's a tuatara who's a fifth grade class pet, and after he reveals to the students that he can talk, he helps them calm their many anxieties. He even tries to help the mean substitute teacher Ms. Malkin (Cecily Strong), which ends up getting him in trouble.

Critics were charmed by Leo's warmth and gentleness, even if they found it kind of tonally scattered. Sandler's signature sentimentality is particularly effective here. 

"The film can't decide if it wants to be truly bizarre, which is when it's funniest, or simple and sweet, when it's the most dramatically effective. These aren't the worst problems for a movie to have." —William Bibbiani, TheWrap

Sandler's love of basketball is famous, and Hustle is one of two of his movies that revolve around the sport (the other is further down this list). He plays a down-on-his-luck scout named Stanley who finds a tremendously talented but personally troubled player named Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) in Spain. Their quest to get Bo into the NBA is redemptive for both of them. 

Critics found Hustle to be a straightforward, well-executed inspirational sports dramedy that gets by on passion and Sandler's lived-in performance. Sandler's greatest emotional strength is his sincerity, and it's on full display here.

"It's always a slam dunk when Adam Sandler drops his doofus routine and really acts. And here, as a basketball scout who yearns to coach, he infuses every frame of this formulaic crowd-pleaser with a real-deal love of the game. Hot damn! We have a winner." —Peter Travers, ABC News

Sandler's collaborators have long included a tight group of friends, and in recent years the circle has grown to include his family, too. His daughters Sunny and Sadie star in this coming-of-age dramedy, with his wife Jackie and himself in supporting roles as parents, though not of the same kids; Idina Menzel plays the Sandler sisters' mother and Adam's wife. The story follows Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) as she plans her perfect bat mitzvah and fights with her best friend Lydia (Samantha Lorraine).

Critics singled out Allison Peck's clever script, Sammi Cohen's confident direction, and Sunny Sandler's winning performance for praise.

"There's a sweetness to this story that reflects Adam Sandler's real-life love for his family." —Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

In Sandler's first time starring in a "good" movie, he dug deeper into his man-child screen persona to play Barry Egan, a sad, lonely man prone to social anxiety and fits of rage. He falls in love with Lena (Emily Watson), his sister's co-worker, and starts to come out of his shell. It's a quirky and surreal romantic comedy.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson is known for being an actor's director, and he saw the emotional depth Sandler was capable of before anyone else. Punch-Drunk Love made critics see Sandler differently.  

"It might have been interesting if Mr. Sandler had departed from his usual doofus man-child persona, but what he does within that persona -- infusing it with a vulnerable, off-kilter humanity that recalls such great film comedians as Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati -- turns out to be even better." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Sandler stars opposite his old friend Ben Stiller in this family dramedy from Academy Award-nominated writer-director Noah Baumbach. They play half-brothers Danny and Matthew Meyerowitz, who are not close but come together to take care of their ailing father, Harold (Dustin Hoffman), and are forced to confront old resentments. 

Critics found the film to be a solid variation on Baumbach's frequent theme of family strife, with witty dialogue and a potent emotional rawness. Among the ensemble, Sandler's performance earned the most praise.

"The film boasts an all-around knockout cast, but its most notable — and maybe surprising — performance comes from Adam Sandler, who carries the proceedings as Danny, Harold's oldest and least professionally successful spawn. We rarely get to see Sandler do this kind of straight-faced comedy, and he's so good in The Meyerowitz Stories that he deserves the chance to do more." —Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

New York City diamond dealer Howard Ratner (Sandler) is a gambling addict in life-threatening debt who can't stop digging the hole deeper and deeper as he schemes, scams, and places increasingly outrageous bets on basketball games as he chases that one big score. 

The Safdie Brothers' nerve-shredding thriller is one of the best-reviewed films of the decade from 2010-2019. Critics loved pretty much everything about it, from its cacophonous sound design to its probing psychological insight into the mind of a gambler to, especially, Sandler's transformative, career-best performance. 

"Uncut Gems jitters and skitters and lurches and hurtles with Howard's desperate energy. Sandler's frantic and fidgety performance provides the movie with its emotional backbone." —Richard Brody, The New Yorker