Rob Schneider and David Spade won’t likely apply for food stamps if Adam Sandler ever stopped lending them a helping hand. But without the patronage of their fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus, Schneider and Spade would doubtless be reduced to begging for cameos in some National Lampoon’s sexcapade.
Sandler’s obviously a loyal friend. Who else would produce Grandma’s Boy for writing crony Allen Covert? And he came to the rescue of Schneider and Spade when their film careers spluttered in the late 1990s (as he did for Dana Carvey). Through his Happy Madison Productions, Sandler’s sponsored the last six lowbrow, laugh-free comedies starring Schneider or Spade. So it was only a matter of time before he reunited his pals in one of his beloved sports farces, The Benchwarmers.
In what sounds like Revenge of the Nerds meets The Bad News Bears, The Benchwarmers finds the athletically ungifted Schneider, Spade and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder playing baseball against Little League-caliber youth teams.
Given that rude and crude of the PG-13 variety is in vogue—thank you Big Momma’s House 2 and Date Movie—The Benchwarmers could hit a double with kids of all ages. And, once again, Schneider and Spade would owe Sandler a debt of gratitude.
All three made their mark on SNL in the early 1990s, with Sandler singing for his supper as Opera Man, Schneider annoying office drones “makin’ copies,” and Spade skewing celebrities with his Hollywood Minute.
Sandler‘s frat-boy shenanigans in Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy inexplicably made him the biggest star to emerge from SNL since Eddie Murphy.
Spade attached himself to Chris Farley, and Tommy Boy and Black Sheep suggested both were ready for primetime. Without Farley, Spade floundered. His bratty persona proved to be very much an acquired taste. Schneider curiously typeset himself as the–painfully unfunny–sidekick to beefcakes Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
No wonder Schneider and Spade scurried back to TV. Schneider‘s Men Behaving Badly behaved too badly for NBC, but Spade scored with Just Shoot Me. Schneider and Spade should have stayed on TV, but Sandler–unfortunately–had to take pity on them. He revived Schneider’s fortunes by executive producing The Animal and the surprisingly amusing Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. But Schneider‘s loser shtick soon got repetitive, resulting in the disappointments The Hot Chick and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. Spade never sniffed Schneider-like success with Joe Dirt and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, but both fared better than Lost & Found and Senseless.
Spade seems to realize his snarkiness is better suited to TV, given that he’s now on Comedy Central hosting the Hollywood Minute-inspired The Showbiz Show. Not that that’s stopping Spade and Sandler from considering a Joe Dirt sequel, even if no one’s clamoring for another misadventure featuring that mullet-haired moron.
Schneider clearly wants to do more than yell “You can go do it!” at Sandler. He’s going to make his directorial debut with Big Stan, in which he plays a jailbird who bulks up to prevent being raped. And Sandler–luckily for him–is not involved. “No more Happy Madison,” Schneider told Empire Online last year. “I want to be separate now and not have to deal with anybody’s notes, including Adam Sandler‘s.”
Spoken like a man who doesn’t realize his true worth.
The Bottom Line
Schneider and Spade can’t do without Sandler. Spade’s apparently accepted this. Schneider hasn’t, but he may have to if The Benchwarmers raises to the occasion and Big Stan gets the shaft.
