Little Nicky

Little Nicky

2000

Director- Steven Brill

Cast- Adam Sandler, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tom "Tiny" Lister, Allen Covert, Jonathan Loughran, Peter Dante, Reese Witherspoon, Blake Clark, Rodney Dangerfield, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey

            Those hoping for a serious examination of Satanism had best go elsewhere. Those

hoping for a subtle comedy will be disappointed. But if you want something silly, and frankly, pretty entertaining, Little Nicky will fit the bill.

             As it turns out, the current Satan (Harvey Keitel) is the son of the previous Prince of Darkness (Rodney Dangerield). Satan is nearing the end of his appointed reign and is expected to turn over Hell to one of his three sons; conniving Adrian (Ifans), brutal Cassius (Lister) or schmuck Nicky. Satan decides to keep the throne for himself and his two evil sons decide to travel to Earth to turn it into their own Hell. This disrupts the cosmic balance and Nicky is sent to Hell to bring them back.

            Nicky meets Valerie (Arqutette), a homely starving artist that he falls in love with (and if you’ve seen Patricia Arquette in Lost Highway, you know they had to work pretty hard to make her look homely!) He is aided in his quest by his roommate, a talking dog and two metal heads. Along the way the cast is joined by many regulars from Adam Sandler’s other movies and a slew of celebrity cameos.

            Adam Sandler has perfected the art of being a schmuck. Some of his movies are more original than others, though they all tend to be variations on a theme. This is one of his funnier ones as it plays down most of the romantic comedy elements and relies more on sight gags.

            If you enjoy sophomoric humor, or if you are old enough to remember when parents were afraid that heavy metal was the secret message board for Satan, this movie will provide some light hearted devilish laughs.