Very few comedies involving horror aren't laden with parody, clichés, and other things like that. Little Nicky, Adam Sandler's new movie, doesn't rely on anything like that. Yes, like in The Exorcist someone's head turns 360°, people are possessed, and someone vomits Linda Blair style, but, apart from the possession, which is assumed with the devil anyway, they aren't used a lot. At the beginning of the movie, we learn that Lucifer (Rodney Dangerfield) had ruled hell for 10,000 years before passing on his domain to his son, Satan (Harvey Kietel). Satan's rule of 10,000 years are almost up, and he's expected to retire, so he would have to pick between his three sons, Nicky (Sandler), Adrian (Rhys Ifans) and Cassius (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.) for his successor. He calls his sons down to his thrown room and tells them he's decided not to retire. At this, Adrian and Cassius get very mad and leave hell, freezing the fiery gateway and leaving their father to rot. As you can see, the plot is already more complicated then many of Sandler's other movies. There are a few shots just panning around hell which seem out of the trailer for Dungeons and Dragons that preceded the film. Also, there is a very funny scene at the very beginning of the movie where Jon Lovitz is a peeping Tom. There were some parts that were just silly: Quentin Tarantino's blind priest, the boobs-on-the-head gag, but I only have one major complaint: Where was Steve Buscemi? He was a disgruntled postal employee in Billy Madison, a wedding singer in The Wedding Singer, and an Egg-McMuffin loving bum in Big Daddy. Why couldn't they get him for this? I sure hope the casting people tried, because like Miracle Whip, an Adam Sandler movie just isn't and Adam Sandler movie without Steve Buscemi.
My grade: B+
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