Fatherhood has gradually had a positive effect on Adam Sandler. It’s hard to believe this was the same guy who made Jack and Jill and That’s My Boy. This family saga has a surprising amount of poignancy. Sandler produces and also appears as the father. His wife Jackie Sandler and daughters Sadie and Sunny are in the cast, too. They often appear in his films, so that’s nothing new. However, this is the first time his daughter Sunny Sandler is the star. She portrays Stacy Friedman, a young girl looking forward to her bat mitzvah. Her best friend, Lydia (Samantha Lorraine), is also looking forward to hers as well.
The chronicle is an episodic tale adapted by Alison Peck from the young adult novel by author Fiona Rosenbloom. It details various developments in a girl’s life, nothing too earth-shaking. They both want the perfect party, have a crush on the same boy, and try to fit in with the popular social cliques in high school. It’s well-acted, and Sunny Sandler emerges as a compelling lead, with Samantha Lorraine offering a heartfelt performance in the supporting role. It helps that the dialogue is so clever.
Adam Sandler has acknowledged his Jewish background in previous films: Eight Crazy Nights, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, Sandy Wexler, The Meyerowitz Stories, Uncut Gems, and others. Yet this is arguably his most overtly religious. The screenplay deftly blends Hebrew traditions with the maturation of a teen girl. Father to daughter: “That’s why we fought the Nazis? So you could have a mojito bar?” Lots of amusing observations.
One quibble, though. The narrative is constantly disrupted by an unending cycle of one tune after another: “I Love It” by Icona Pop, “Stupid Love” by Lady Gaga, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, “Traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Wolves” by Selena Gomez. Those are just the titles I recognized in the nearly 30 songs in total. I looked it up. Every development, both major and minor, is accompanied by some contemporary ditty. Occasionally, they take away from the inherent emotion of the scene rather than add to it.
2023 is a good year for funny coming-of-age comedy dramas about girls. We had Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, earlier in the year, and now we have this enjoyable picture. It details little vignettes, and each one is not only humorous but also insightful. The interactions are natural, and the portrait of adolescence feels genuine. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is so worth your attention.
Debuted on Netflix August 25.
3 Responses
It’s always nice to see Sandler doing something good. You always know he has that potential in him but he’s so often more content to just do the lowest common denominator type humor — service the crowd, forget the art kinda thing. I have actually just recently discovered I don’t have a Netflix account (we were bumming my brother’s password and using his and now he’s dropped it lol) so I need to resubscribe and check this out. It’s getting a lot of positive reviews
Adam Sandler did Hustle last year and that was very good as well.
Take out all those annoying songs and there’s a great movie there. What ever happened to letting the score set your emotions, now they throw in these popular, yet awful songs try to replace that. Lots of movies do that now. I will say, his daughters were great. 3 ⭐️