BLOG: IN DEFENSE OF THE WEDDING SINGER

Before I justify my love the film “The Wedding Singer”, I am going to address the reasons why people might be hesitant to like it.

Adam Sandler has made some awful shit. Happy Gilmore was hilarious, Mr. Deeds was barely acceptable, and 50 first dates is ok when you are high but that is IT. His stand up is really quite insufferable. Even when he got older and tried to do depressing movies (because he, like every comedian ever, started to feel the effects of perpetual alcoholism and cocaine use), no improvement was shown.
- *Some aging comedians managed to pulled off the transition to emo-film-acting: Robin Williams’ role as the serial killer in “Insomnia”, Will Ferrel’s performance as Harold Crick in “Stranger than Fiction”, and (I suppose) Jim Carrey in the “Truman Show”.
Sandler’s consistently wonderful musical performances drive the plot of “The Wedding Singer”, becoming the major selling point of the film. Before I saw this, I would never have known that Adam Sandler was a musician and would have rejected the notion based on how annoying his speaking voice sounds in his other films. I acknowledge that this movie may be a fluke, and that it’s production may have exhausted Sandler’s store of musical talent- A theory supported by the fact that “The Wedding Singer” is the only film that Adam Sandler both performed and composed music in/for.
Sandler and Barrymore have tried to re-create the magic shown in this movie in the films “50 First Dates” and “Blended”. They blew it. I think producers thought it was the couple’s acting skills that made the Wedding Singer so good. It was not. The combination of the 80s setting, hilarious written music, and Steve Buscemi made this movie what it is.
Anyone born in the 90s is pre-programmed to hate the 80s unless in a nostalgic context like a high school theme’d dance or blowing coke while watching American Psycho/Michael Douglas. Try to push the natural prejudice aside and just be grateful for the unending joy we receive from making fun of it (Ever look at your mom’s wedding dress?).
I grew up with this movie so I MIGHT be bias in my evaluation. But fuck you, I am totally probably not being bias.

OK, now that I have covered all possible counter arguments, HERE are 4 reasons why you should love “The Wedding Singer”

Christine Taylor
- For those who don’t know, Christine Taylor is the hot 5′ 6″ wife of 5′ 7″ Ben Stiller and has appeared in several of his movies like Zoolander, Dodgeball, others that I don’t feel like looking up. They have been married for 15 years…I hope they don’t get divorced but when has hoping ever worked?
  Taylor in “Zoolander”. I will discuss my lesbian crushes in a later post, but she is definitely one of them. I bet Ben Stiller is miserable to be married to, but let’s be honest: She is probably just as much of a bitch as he is. In my romantic fantasy, they complete each other.
The Music. As I have mentioned, many of the songs in this film were written by Adam Sandler. Honestly, if you are never going to watch the movie, you probably will get just as much out of watching the below “Wedding Singer” music clips
- The opening sequence- a cover better than the Billy Idol original. Fun Fact, Idol makes a cameo in the movie.
- We have all been there man.
- My personal favorite.
- The adorable ending song that Sandler also wrote. Sploosh.
The Sassy Grandma, played by Ellen Albertini (RIP), is a total badass
Finally, Steve Buscemi gives the HANDS DOWN best BEST-MAN speech in human history. I have a huge Irish family, and there is a serious risk of this shit going down every single Martin/O’Mahoney wedding. Luckily, everyone of us is so drunk by 4pm that the inevitable racist, sexist, or Anti-Semitic statements go relatively unnoticed.