Adam Sandler is receiving a lot of love from movie critics for his performance in the new film "The Meyerowitz Stories." Reports note that the awards buzz is getting louder as the comedian surprised moviegoers by showing his dramatic prowess. "The Meyerowitz Stories" recently screened at the Cannes Film Festival in France. When critics initially learned that an Adam Sandler movie was part of the line-up, they scoffed and wondered why the actor, who is known for his slapstick comedies, was even invited. But now, it looks like Sandler won the audience over as Danny Meyerowitz in the Netflix Original film.
What is this film about?
"The Meyerowitz Stories" is a family drama featuring Dustin Hoffman as the patriarch Harold Meyerowitz, who is also a divorcee many times over. Ben Stiller plays Matthew, the successful younger son opposite Adam Sandler's unfortunate Danny. Elizabeth Marvel plays daughter Jean Meyerowitz.
The film begins with Harold's retirement as an art teacher at Bard College. Danny's daughter Eliza, played by Grace Van Patten, has started attending classes in the same school as a film student just as her parents go through a separation.
Danny is jobless and unskilled, except for maybe giving piano lessons. Harold, despite his life in academia, doesn't really have much success as an artist.
Meanwhile, Matthew has been raking it in in Los Angeles as a finance guy. Noah Baumbach wrote and directed the complex tapestry of the Meyerowitz family.
Applause for Sandler, Baumbach
After the screening at Cannes, the audience couldn't help but applaud Adam Sandler, Baumbach, and the rest of those involved in the film. One review cited Sandler as a "formidable actor" who could win the Best Actor plum at the festival, while another observed that the actor usually delivers better work when "he’s not making Adam Sandler movies," as per Indiewire.
In an interview with Variety, Sandler said he teared up when he first read the script for "The Meyerowitz Stories." He said he didn't "want to let anybody down," knowing that material like this doesn't come often for comedians.
Baubach said he picked out the actor for Danny because he knew he could match Stiller's Matthew. He told the L.A.
Times that they have never been in a film together but "it was exciting to think of them as siblings."
"The Meyerowitz Stories" is currently on limited release in theaters in Cannes until May 28. It will also be available on Netflix after the festival, but there has been no scheduled date announced so far in terms of when the film will be available to stream.
