There is a narrow window of Adam Sandler films that I can tolerate, and they seem to be made around the turn of this century.  The first of these I covered is 50 First Dates (2004), though I suspect my enjoyment of it has more to do with its Hawaiian setting and Sandler co-starring alongside Drew Barrymore.  I have always had that proverbial soft spot for her.  Before and after this period, I do not care for much of his other stuff.  This includes the early movies he did that put him on the map, like Billy Madison (1995).  I have also gotten little out of his recent work, including the brief Murder Mysteryseries that my niece unfortunately likes.  Yet, appearing in 1999, Big Daddy falls directly in the middle of that prime Sandler time that I will watch.

You would not know from the beginning that Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler), a failed lawyer, is destined to be a Big Daddy, or any kind of father figure.  We meet him shortly before 11:00 am, and he does not appear motivated to get out of bed as he is being lectured to by his attorney father, Lenny Koufax (Joseph Bologna).  Sonny is living off of a modest settlement he received from having his foot by run over by a taxi, though he does work one day a week in a toll booth.  After getting his stern talking to by Lenny, Sonny’s girlfriend, Vanessa (Kristy Swanson), piles on by blaming Sonny for her being late for an appointment and deriding his poor work ethic.  She then says she is going back to Syracuse, their alma mater, for some time.  Following a day taking people’s money as they pass through his gate, he comes home to a surprise party.  The soiree, however, is not for him, but rather his roommate and longtime friend, Kevin Gerrity (Jon Stewart).  Kevin’s girlfriend, Corinne Maloney (Leslie Mann), who hates Sonny, is angry with the state employee for ruining Kevin’s entrance.  Sonny also loudly predicts Kevin’s proposal to Corinne, further enraging her.  The big question precedes the announcement of a business trip to China for Kevin, meaning Sonny will be left to his own devices.  It also has Sonny thinking about what he can do to win back Vanessa, which he believes to be simply showing her the ability to be more responsible.  As if on cue, Julian McGrath (Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse), a five-year-old boy, appears at the door.  He comes with a note saying that his father is Kevin, and that Julian’s mother has died.  Sonny calls Kevin and reaches his roommate just as he is about to leave the country.  Kevin cannot fathom how such a thing could be possible, and says he will come home right away.  Sonny tells Kevin to go ahead with the flight to Asia.  Sonny will handle the situation.  His first plan is to take Julian to social services, being ill equipped to take care of a child.  Yet, two things change Sonny’s mind.  First, there is his desire to impress Vanessa with his ability to be responsible.  Secondly, Julian appears to have had a rough go of life late, and the kid’s sadness wins over Sonny.  Part of this is Sonny giving into Julian’s every whim to keep the young one happy, but we will talk more about this later in the review.  As to the reasons why Sonny keeps Julian, Sonny wastes little time in taking Julian to see Vanessa in order to prove his worthiness.  When Sonny gets to her place, he finds another man there, one significantly older than him, but apparently her new lover.  Feeling like his plan has backfired, and hearing the doubts of others like Lenny as to his qualifications for fatherhood, Sonny finally takes Julian to meet with Arthur Brooks (Josh Mostel), the social services workers assigned to Julian.  As Arthur and Sonny converse, the boy comes over and shows Sonny some of the things he has taught the kid, like his ability to tie his own shoe.  Between that and the coldness of a potential stay in a group home for Julian, Sonny decides to keep his new charge.  One thing to bear in mind through all this is that to Arthur, Sonny is Kevin Gerrity, and Sonny leaves the meeting with that charade intact.  In any case, Sonny sets to the monumental task of being a parent.  He has a different way of going about raising a boy, however.  The primary thing to note from his style, once more, is letting Julian do whatever he wants, including picking a new name, which the child naturally goes with Frankenstein.  There are some perks, though.  For one thing, Julian helps Sonny formally meet Layla Maloney (Joey Lauren Adams), Corinne’s sister.  She feels less hostile towards Sonny, and thus she fits a few dates with him into her busy schedule as a lawyer.  Almost everyone is a lawyer in this movie.  As for Julian, amazingly enough the kid informs Sonny that he wants to start going to school.  You can probably predict how this goes given how Sonny is influencing the child.  Julian’s teacher eventually has a conference with Sonny in order to list the surrogate son’s many problems in class.  Sonny then finds a way to get through to Julian, and turns around the boy’s behavior.  Unfortunately, this is when Arthur finally figures out Sonny’s real identity, and comes to take Julian away, threatening legal action.  Instead, Sonny enlists the help of all his lawyer friends, including doing a lot of his own research, in order to gain legal custody of Julian.  After a number of ridiculous witnesses (this is a comedy, after all), Sonny puts himself on the stand and has his own father examine him.  At first, Lenny points out the obvious flaws in his son’s character, until Sonny essentially apologizes.  From there, Lenny says Sonny is ready to be a dad.  All the same, what clinches it is Kevin returning and saying he will not be pressing charges against Sonny.  Kevin is also ready to take Julian under his care.  This means that Sonny will not be Julian’s father, but eventually becomes an uncle when Sonny and Layla get married.  We close with Sonny, now practicing law (of course) getting a surprise birthday party at Hooters with his friends.

Big Daddy is a movie I had seen before, but had taken on a little more significance since starting The Legionnaire.  For centuries, Catholicism has been at the forefront of taking care of children like Julian.  Obviously, the Church would not advocate raising any child as Sonny advocates.  The way the Faith works at practically any level, including childhood development, is about structure.  The argument has been made that Catholicism has a too rigid, legalistic approach to everything, including God.  Yet, look at the history of the Church and how far it has come since its beginnings close to the time of Jesus Himself.  I take this as evidence of a fundamental truth about the way God created us regarding the benefits of discipline.  That, too, is a scary word, and one Sonny has evidently been running away from for some time.  Still, look at what happens for Julian and Sonny when they apply some of this to their lives.  Following Sonny’s meeting with Julian’s teacher, and subsequent reforms (another great Catholic word), Julian starts to thrive in school.  The same can be said for Sonny.  Of course, he is initially not ready to do practically any of the things required of him to be a parent.  Then, God brings a boy into his life to reflect back to the man the error of his adult ways.  By the end of the movie, Sonny is a working lawyer who appears to be on the rise.  Put differently, he is no longer peeing on the side of a building with a five-year-old next to him.  This is what structure can do for a person.  It can bring achievement, though that looks different for many people.  The Church is proof of the last part of the previous statement, and society reflects it, too, in its own way.  Thus, do not discount coming up with a solid gameplan for your life.  Your life can be abundantly blessed by doing so.

There are some off color moments in Big Daddy, particularly with the comments Sonny makes to Corinne about her previous employment at Hooter’s.  While I hope these women find differenty employment, they are still deserving of respect.  Despite this, when it comes to Adam Sandler films, you could do worse than this one.