Otto notti di follie

Okay a viewer can watch this and see it in one of two lights, not both. Either a person can watch this and say, 'that was the cruelest and most disturbing thing I've ever seen' or the other 'That was kind of weird but portrayed a message.' Okay I know what you are saying, a Sandler film with a point, NO WAY! But no, this movie does have a message of Christmas (or Hanukkah) and works out quite plainly if you pay attention.

The story goes like this. It's the holidays and Davey (Voiced by Adam Sandler) is a mean-spirited, spiteful young man with a criminal record. His past was perfect until his parents died when he was 13. Now he's back in court and about to be sentenced to jail when a kind-hearted, old man named Whitey (also voiced by Sandler) who offers to the judge to have Davey perform community service as an assistant referee for youth basketball.

Davey thinks he's going to get off easy until Whitey begins to try and reform the young man. Davey does some horrible, and almost unbelievable things to him but Whitey is ever kind and optimistic and even offers Davey a home once his burns down. Slowly Davey begins to change from a troubled young man to a kinder person. But all the while, memories form his troubled past continue to plague him and cause him to be angry. The whole time, the movie keeps you guessing if he'll overcome the anger that built inside of him with the help of Whitey or be engulfed in it.

The whole film I absolutely hated Sandler's character. He was more than angry, he was deranged and just plain mean to the old man who tries to help him and couldn't help but think 'man this guys horrible.' But after a second viewing I realized the film was trying to do something. The film echoes a cry for being kind and how good triumphs over evil, in the case of the film Whitey overtaking Davey's anger with kindness and changing him. By the end of the movie I had gotten some good laughs from it and really felt better and realized how I should act around the holidays.

Pretty much the film juxtaposes the two most opposite characters and shows what kind of affect they'll have on each other. It shows how when a person is kinder, they may not be as popular, but they'll be happy, they'll have friends, and they'll be set for life. This movie isn't a classic in anyway.

The film has some great laughs, the deer are great throughout the film along with Whitey's brother, Elanor (also voiced by Sandler)and will keep you laughing until the last five minutes. The humor is a bit crude in some of the scenes and some of the antics Davey performs are cruel and terrible. But in the end , the film shows how a person should be during the holidays, how kindness is always the better choice, and how the past shouldn't haunt a person.

Eight Crazy Nights. Starring the voices of: Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, and Rob Schneider.

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

Funny as all heck. Decent story music was alright. Animation holds up for its age. Added to my families Christmas movie rotation.

Adam Sandler shows a great range and his characters. The story is fairly compelling. Whitey makes the story without him. The story goes nowhere.

It is a touching Christmas story. It really is about Whitey and how he impacts the people and his hometown.

The way whitey believes in his town the people in it. It's when Adam Sandler's character stands up for Whitey that you really see the true story of Christmas. Come alive in this.

The story brings the story of Hanukkah and redemption with through Christmas into a new light.

Adam Sandler's first (and to date, only) animated feature, "Eight Crazy Nights," takes a cue from his infamous "Chanukah Song" in celebrating the Jewish holiday -- as well as good old commercial Christmas -- musical style. With all the typical Sandler comedic hallmarks, it's certainly not a children's feature, but is admittedly a lot softer and more toned down than, say, "Happy Gilmore" or "Billy Madison."

The story revolves around the self-loathing loser, Davey, who is essentially a by-the-books "Happy Madison" character. Since his better days have passed him by, he spends most of his time being drunk and unhappy while simultaneously making everyone around him miserable. Because justice apparently takes a holiday, he is let off the hook for a drunken misdemeanor in turn for some community service. Davey must coach a youth league basketball team with the help of a bizarre little old man by the name of Whitey who has a disturbingly hairy body and who still lives with his sister. Slowly, Davey starts to redeem himself and even takes a stab at winning back the girl who got away from him.

Aside from being typical Adam Sandler fare, "Eight Crazy Nights" is rather vibrant in both its animation style and its musical numbers. It's simply a predictable, yet feel-good story that no doubt has worked its way into becoming somewhat of a holiday classic. Adam Sandler provides the voices of all three main characters, while the usual gaggle of co-horts in Jon Lovitz, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider and Allen Covert show up, too.

"Eight Crazy Nights", or "Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights", a crude animated film, shows comedian Adam Sandler in cartoon form. I'm no die-hard fan of his, but I think he can be funny, so I recently decided to check out this film, despite a lot of negative reviews. Well, guess what? Now I agree with those negative reviews. I'm sure this film had potential to be a decent comedy (like some of Sandler's live action films), and a good, touching holiday adventure as well, but it didn't really turn out to be either of these things, unfortunately.

Davey Stone lives in the town of Dukesberry, New England. He is now in his early thirties, and is a nasty alcoholic with a bad reputation. Twenty years ago, he was basically the opposite, but something went horribly wrong! Now that he's so uncouth, he is known to cause trouble, and one December night, the first night of Hanukkah, he is arrested for leaving a restaurant without paying. He is sentenced to community service as an assistant referee for a youth basketball league, working for the head referee, Whitey Duvall. Since that was not Davey's first offence, he will be sentenced to ten years in prison if he breaks the law again! As the days of Hanukkah go by, and Christmas draws near, the good-natured Whitey tries to change Davey's ways, but is there any hope?!

Adam Sandler provides the voice for Davey, who looks just like him, as well as the voices for Whitey and his sister, Eleanore. Personally, I found Whitey's voice maybe not quite irritating, but close, and I think I found Eleanore's voice fairly irritating. Those voices, however, certainly didn't ruin the entire experience for me. The main problem with "Eight Crazy Nights" is that as a comedy, it's pretty lame. I do not recall ever laughing, and recall smiling only a couple times, one of them being when Davey tells his car not to stay up too late. Whitey having seizures - not funny! Whitey covered in fecal matter - not funny! Reindeer licking ice and feces off of him - not funny! People laughing so hard that they shoot out snot while reindeer outside laugh so hard at the same joke that they shoot out feces - not funny! Some of these gags put a puzzled look on my face, or grossed me out a bit! The film is somewhat touching at times, especially around the end, and if it weren't for that, I think I would give it a lower rating than the already low 4.

I have no problem with the premise or animation here. Like I said, the main problem with this film is the lame humour. I'm certainly NOT irked by all crude, tasteless humour. Since this is a case where that kind of humour is used in animation, I feel I should mention that "South Park" has made me laugh hard numerous times! However, when crude humour is not funny, it can be frighteningly bad (like when those hacks, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer do it), and that is sometimes the case in "Eight Crazy Nights", or if not, it sometimes comes very close! Knowing that Jon Lovitz had a voice-over role in this film, I am reminded of Jay Sherman, his character in the short-lived cartoon series, "The Critic" (a good show, in my opinion), and the character's catchphrase, "It stinks." I really think that catchphrase, though simple, is a good one to use to describe this movie. Without a doubt, "Eight Crazy Nights" marked a low point in Sandler's career.

Just watched the DVD and was very disappointed. It could have been a nice holiday movie for the whole family but the unnecessary crudeness only makes it a vulgar adult animation that only teenagers would appreciate.