Sandler's Squad - Movie Cliques Part 1

If you look at Adam Sandler movies you’ll see that he has a close network of friends he likes to include in his films. Its like a “Where’s Waldo” game to find them all. The game seems to begin oddly enough with Airheads, obviously not one of his best films. Lets start playing the game with actors who are known for little else than Sandler films. We find Allen Covert as a cop in Airheads, a homeless caddy in Happy Gilmore, a roommate in Little Nicky, a limo driver in The Wedding Singer , a gay lawyer in Big Daddy, 10-second Tom in 50 First Dates and many others. Another one to look out for is Peter Dante who’s most “acclaimed” performance is a fellow fire-fighter in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Believe it or not Dante can also be found in The Wedding Singer, Waterboy, Big Daddy, Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, and 50 First Dates. Ever heard of Jonathan Loughran (AKA Sandler’s assistant)? Well, if you’ve watched any of these Sandler movies you’ve seen him, many times.

Let’s not forget Sandler’s hilarious comic relief characters he writes into each of his movies just for Rob Schneider. Sandler and Schneider must just sit around and think of all the stereotypes they can exploit to get a laugh. We find Schneider as a an obnoxious townie in Waterboy and Little Nicky, Nazo, the Italian delivery guy who makes an appearance in both Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds (that’s a fun bit of trivia), Ula, the local Hawaiian with no manners in 50 First Dates, an Asian minister with a very “unique” accent in Chuck & Larry, and Salim, a Middle-Eastern cab driver in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

Steve Buscemi is a part of acclaimed cliques such as the Quentin Tarantino team and the Coen crew, but in Sandler movies he provides a bit of the awkward and unexpected. The Buscemi-Sandler history begins at the beginning where they both rock out in Airheads. It is after Airheads that Buscemi’s characters really become strange, we find him as a severely depressed wedding guest in The Wedding Singer, a homeless guy in Big Daddy, “crazy eyes” in Mr. Deeds, and most recently an investigator in Chuck & Larry.

It’s fun to think of all the other big name celebrities that make multiple Sandler appearances. In fact, another member of the Coen crew appears in Sandler films. John Turturro appears in a surprising number of them, most recently as The Phantom in Zohan. We all loved Drew Barrymore as the love interest in 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer. Ever notice the Sandler-Arquette connection? Well here it is. David Arquette appeared in Airheads, sister Patricia starred opposite Sandler in Little Nicky and sister Alexis “sang’ opposite Sandler in The Wedding Singer. Not to mention Drew Barrymore then starred with David Arquette in Never Been Kissed in which Covert even appeared. Sandler seems to have recently befriended Dave Matthews who appears in two of his newer films. I have to say Mathews makes a great addition to the comic relief team appearing as a gay shop owner in Chuck & Larry and an anti-terrorist redneck in Zohan. It seems Sandler is always on the look out for new members to the team. Therefore I’ll be on the look out for more Nick Swardson (Chuck & Larry and Zohan) appearances.