Alan Au

When two testosterone-fueled firemen attempt to register as domestic partners in order to bypass the bureaucratic red tape preventing one of them from naming his own two children as his life-insurance beneficiaries, their low-key ruse turns into headline news in this quirky matrimonial comedy starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Chuck Levine (Sandler) and Larry Valentine (James) are two New York City firefighters whose longtime friendship has endured many a five-alarm fire. All that widower Larry wants is to ensure that his two children will be taken care of if anything should happen to him on the job, and all that single blaze-battler Chuck wants is to carry on with his carefree life of noncommitment. Having once rescued Larry from certain death in a particularly fearsome inferno, beholden Chuck feels forever indebted to his brave friend and has vowed to repay the favor when the time is right. When Larry discovers that the only means of circumventing the civic red tape that could throw his children's futures into jeopardy is to take Chuck as his lawfully wedded husband, his obligated pal reluctantly agrees to step up to the alter with the understanding that the arrangement will be a well-kept secret between themselves and the justice of the peace. A potentially fatal flaw in their presumably foolproof plan is soon revealed, however, when an overzealous bureaucrat decides to question Chuck and Larry's partnership. Subsequently forced to embark on a mandatory honeymoon and pose as starry-eyed newlyweds, Chuck and Larry quickly discover just how important it can be to stick by a friend in his or her time of need. Jessica Biel, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, and Dan Aykroyd co-star in a comedy from The Benchwarmers director Dennis Dugan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Three guys with little athletic ability strike a blow for everyone chosen last at recess in this comedy. Clark (Jon Heder), Gus (Rob Schneider), and Richie (David Spade) are three geeky guys who have spent most of their lives being humiliated by bullies and taunted by people with greater hand-eye coordination than they possess (which is nearly everyone). While the three guys love baseball, they've been treated like losers on the diamond ever since their days riding the pine in Little League. One day they stop by a softball field at a local park and a bunch of kids practicing for Little League tryouts try to heckle them into going home. Clark, Gus, and Richie challenge the kids to a game -- three against nine -- and miraculously don't entirely humiliate themselves. Mel (Jon Lovitz), a guy with an athletically-challenged son of his own, is impressed with the nerdy trio's nerve, and offers to set up a tournament in which the three inept grown-ups will take on the best Little League teams from around the state. Clark, Gus, and Richie accept the offer, and they soon become unlikely heroes to the bullied, clumsy, and awkward everywhere. The Benchwarmers also stars Craig Kilborn, Tim Meadows, Molly Sims and Reggie Jackson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the toughest and best-remembered sports movies of the 1970s gets a humorous makeover in this comedy. Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Adam Sandler) was once a famous professional football player, but after several years out of the limelight and an alcohol problem have taken their toll, Crewe is arrested for a serious traffic accident aggravated by the fact he was drunk. Crewe is sentenced to Allenville Penitentiary, where Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) is something of a football fan. Hazen had organized his guards into an impressive football team, and clears a healthy profit by taking bets on their games. Looking to make the competition more interesting, Hazen suggests that Crewe put together a team from the inmate population to play his guards. With the help of fellow prisoner Caretaker (Chris Rock), Crewe recruits the heaviest hitters from the cell block for the team, but the guys don't play like a unit until Crewe and Caretaker get some help from Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds), a former college and NFL coach doing hard time. Adapted from Robert Aldrich's 1974 box-office smash of the same name, The Longest Yard also features rap star Nelly and Nicholas Turturro; the film has previously been loosely remade in 2001 as Mean Machine, with the action moved to England and the game changed to soccer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man comes face to face with the rage he didn't know he had in this comedy. Dave Buznick (Adam Sandler) is an even-tempered businessman who, after a series of strange misunderstandings on an airline flight, finds himself accused of air rage. A judge sentences Dave to undergo anger management therapy, and he soon finds himself in the care of Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), a celebrated therapist. However, Dave's group therapy sessions with a handful of truly disturbed individuals -- among them jumpy ex-con Chuck (John Turturro), obsessive sports fan Nate (Jonathan Loughran), slow-burning Lou (Luis Guzman), egocentric Andrew (Allen Covert), and bisexual porn stars Gina and Stacy (Krista Allen and January Jones) -- leave him far more unsettled than when he arrived. Later, when Buddy decides to move into Dave's home for intensive therapy, he soon discovers Buddy has more than a bit of his own anger to resolve, and that no one brings out Dave's deeply buried inner rage quite like Buddy. Anger Management also stars Marisa Tomei as Dave's girlfriend, Linda; in addition, the film features a number of notable actors in cameos, including Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Ray Liotta, Heather Graham, and Harry Dean Stanton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As the title character of Joe Dirt, David Spade plays a "white trash" janitor at an L.A. radio station, whose mullet hairdo is just one of many personal oddities that make him the object of much ridicule. And the sanitation gig is just the most recent of Joe's many incarnations during a tumultuous life, which got off on the wrong foot when Joe was abandoned at the Grand Canyon by his parents as a young child. After stumbling into the on-air studio, Joe steadily recounts the sad and comical story of how he cared for himself and journeyed around the country trying to relocate his family, all while being prodded, teased, and eventually embraced by a sarcastic deejay (Dennis Miller) and a rapt listening audience. His travels involve stints selling fireworks, wrangling alligators, riding aloft in a car dealership display balloon, and being held captive by a Silence of the Lambs-style serial killer. Despite numerous setbacks and bruising physical injuries, Joe emerges from each episode with his spirit intact as he searches optimistically for his roots, and eventually for the chance to return to the one place he was accepted -- a rural farm where the girl of his dreams (Brittany Daniel) awaits. The directorial debut of Dennie Gordon, Joe Dirt was produced by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, and features musician Kid Rock, also debuting, in the supporting role of Joe's rival. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

The youngest child of the family often has the most problems -- so why should things be different for the Prince of Darkness and his offspring? Satan (Harvey Keitel) is considering retirement, and is pondering which of his sons should take over the family business -- ambitious Adrian (Rhys Ifans), strapping Cassius (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.), or Nicky (Adam Sandler), an accident-prone demon who prefers to stay in his room playing his favorite heavy metal tunes. When Satan decides to stay on for another 10,000 years, Adrian is outraged, and leaves Hell to go to New York, where he and Cassius attempt to round up enough souls to vote Satan out of power. Satan, understandably upset, sends Nicky to bring Adrian and Cassius back home, but Nicky finds life on Earth is more complicated than he expected. Things don't get any easier when he develops a crush on Valerie (Patricia Arquette), a good-hearted mortal woman. Little Nicky also features Michael McKean as a city official trying to put Nicky behind bars, Kevin Nealon as Hell's gatekeeper, Rodney Dangerfield as Satan's father, Robert Smigel as the voice of Beefy -- a talking dog who is Nicky's guide on earth, Allen Covert as Todd -- Nicky's new roommate, and Peter Dante and Jonathan Loughran as a pair of metalheads who dig Satan. Jon Lovitz and Reese Witherspoon play cameo roles, and Regis Philbin and Ozzy Osbourne appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mousse up your hair and pull your Missing Persons records out of mothballs for this romantic comedy set in that era of questionable fashion decisions, the '80s. In 1985, Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a vocalist whose rock band stubbornly refuses to get off the ground. In the meantime, he makes a living playing wedding receptions, where his easy charm and ability to schmooze brings him a steady income. Robbie meets Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore) when she's working as a waitress at one of his wedding gigs; he immediately takes a shine to her, but since he's engaged, he keeps his distance. Robbie learns that Julia is also engaged; unfortunately, her fiancée Glen Gulia (Matthew Glave) is an obnoxious, self-obsessed yuppie who is chronically unfaithful to her. When Robbie gets stood up at the altar by his fiancée, it's a crushing blow to his ego, and he moves from working weddings to bar mitzvahs to avoid the humiliating issue of matrimony, and he considers giving up on music altogether. In time, Robbie realizes that he needs to step in and stop Julia from marrying Glen before the woman he's come to love ruins her life. Adam Sandler's former Saturday Night Live co-stars Kevin Nealon and Jon Lovitz make cameo appearances, as do Steve Buscemi and Billy Idol -- as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide