By exploring as many different genres as possible within his comedy movies, Adam Sandler secretly set up his own massive success by avoiding the possibility of typecasting. Adam Sandler's career spans over three decades, and in that time, he's achieved an impressive reputation as one of the most successful comedic performers in Hollywood. Though many of his movies are often critically panned, he continues to achieve considerable success. Most notably, Sandler's lucrative deal with streaming giant Netflix as well as his role as a writer/producer on other projects have led to an estimated net worth of $420 million.
Many consider Adam Sandler's career underrated, particularly as his films are so often torn apart by critics. The most common criticisms of Sandler's work cite juvenile humor and formulaic plots as the biggest offenders, although these are both elements that haven't held back Sandler's success. His work as a writer, actor, and producer has earned him considerable renown and a colossal audience. The accessibility of Sandler's movies is a stroke of genius, too: his deal with Netflix means that many of his movies can be found in one place, and his largely inoffensive brand of low-brow humor appeals to an incredibly wide demographic. This makes Sandler's success seem far more deliberate and considered, with his approach to his career feeding directly into his popularity.
One of the most subtly important ways in which Adam Sandler engineered his career success comes through the way in which his many movies can be categorized. Throughout Sandler's career, the vast majority of his movies can be defined as comedies: although critically, there's almost always a subgenre, and this has helped him build a more versatile image through his comedies. By making comedies that double up as sports dramas, romances, action movies, fantasy films, and even Westerns, Sandler has slowly but surely cultivated a more varied image than he gets credit for, and that's actually been one of the biggest components of his widespread success.
Sandler's Sports Movies Have Been Big Successes
Two of Sandler's earliest career successes was 1996's Hustle (which proved Sandler's career progress in a very specific way). All of Sandler's sports movies make use of varying degrees of comedy, but all of them also involve a liberal dose of drama. This is just one way in which Sandler proved he could play characters with more than a modicum of emotional depth, and the physical nature of the sports scenes proved that he was capable of expanding his range.
Fantasy Movies Aren't Sandler's Best – But They Still Work
Adam Sandler has also featured in a number of movies with fantastical elements. Some of these, such as 2008's Bedtime Stories, were more family-focused, whereas others, such as Adam Sandler makes bad movies. However, though these titles leave much to be desired, Sandler himself often shines regardless, delivering performances that blend comedy and drama in a way that continues to build a sympathetic image for the performer.
Sandler's Action & Sci-Fi Credits Subtly Proved His Versatility
The two genres least associated with Adam Sandler are probably action and sci-fi. However, the actor has delivered efforts at each, and despite mixed results, they further proved Sandler's star power regardless. Early in Sandler's career, there was Bulletproof, a buddy cop action comedy that saw Sandler star alongside Damon Wayans and James Caan. In recent years, he has appeared in a number of more action-based movies (many of them part of Adam Sandler's Netflix movie deal), such as The Do-Over and The Ridiculous Six. There was also the sci-fi action comedy Pixels in 2013, which failed to impress critics.
Though many consider Sandler's action-based efforts among his worst movies, his deal with Netflix seems to indicate otherwise. Though it may seem counterproductive for Sandler to make movies that feed his biggest critics, these action and sci-fi roles actually further contributed to the idea that Adam Sandler is a valuable and versatile performer. Though the movies themselves were not critical successes, Sandler's image subtly shifted to that of a man capable of confidently filling more traditional action movie roles, and that only adds yet another feather to the cap of Sandler's career.
Romantic Comedies Helped Sandler Transition To Drama
Adam Sandler's romantic comedies are among his most widely successful films - and for good reason. Some of these titles, such as The Wedding Singer, are overlooked by Sandler fans, whereas others, like 50 First Dates, enjoy continued popularity even decades after their initial release. Sandler's ability to convincingly fill a leading role in a romantic comedy is one of his most marketable skills and has been a huge contributor to his career success. However, it also subtly set up one of the best and most unexpected transitions of his career.
Adam Sandler's role in Uncut Gems that Sandler's bad movie curse was finally considered finished - but that acclaimed dramatic performance wouldn't have been possible without the foundation laid by Sandler's romantic comedies. His roles in romantically-skewed movies proved that Sandler had an undeniable charm and an ability to act outside of simple comedy, and his regular roles in romantic movies served as constant subtle reminders of his talent.
Adam Sandler's Career Variety Is The Key To His Success
Though it's easy to look back over the first two decades of Sandler's career and dismiss his acting talent, his persistence in subtly embracing variety in his roles eventually paid off. Of course, though Sandler still isn't considered an all-time great in acting circles, his reputation is far better than it once was, and one of the most commonly-cited reasons for this is his versatility. The many genres successfully added to his filmography subtly prove that Adam Sandler is a great actor, because he's been consistently engaging with different styles and methods of storytelling in his work for years.
This also means that Sandler's back catalog has something for everyone. Regardless of which genre Sandler seems most comfortable in, he has something to offer in almost every movie he's ever appeared in, and the fact that his various projects are all so different speaks to his broad skill and versatility as a performer. The fact that Adam Sandler has successfully broached almost every genre that exists serves as definitive proof that he's one of the most talented (and underrated) actors currently working in Hollywood.
