Adam Sandler names his favourite movie of all time

At a point in time, Adam Sandler was seen as the joker in the pack, an insincere actor who only partook in throwaway comedies and silly family dramas. Much like Nicolas Cage, the actor has long been mocked within the industry, yet there is genius behind the facade, with the actor appearing in a number of iconic performances, playing Barry Egan in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love and Howard Ratner in the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.

With the latter pair of filmmakers, Sandler has found something of a niche, excelling in 2019’s Uncut Gems as a maverick jewellery seller, acting as the stomping tour guide for the Safdies’ dizzying film about the dogged pursuit of the American dream. Living from bet to bet, Ratner gambles his personal security away for the fantastical chance of accessing the jackpot that tempts him like a dangling diamond, with Sandler giving a performance that lands somewhere between madness and charismatic allure.

Still, there’s no doubt that Sandler is best known for his hum-drum comedies, rising to popularity in the 1990s with such movies as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer, steadily creating a band of loyal cast members. These days, Sandler operates under his production company, Happy Madison, working closely with such celebrated actors as Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Steve Buscemi.

But, for an actor with such an eclectic in movie productions, what of his all-time favourite films? 

Speaking in the book You Gotta See This by Cindy Pearlman, Sandler states, without hesitation, that his favourite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz. “Oh God, it’s so easy,” the actor exclaims, “I love The Wizard of Oz. This is not exactly the kind of thing a man wants to admit, but my mother makes me watch it again and again. Okay, that’s not exactly true. I want to watch it, too. Maybe I even make my mother watch it with me. Now the secret is out. But don’t you think Dorothy is pretty cute and that Scarecrow had a heart from the beginning if you ask me?”.

Released back in 1939, The Wizard of Oz is an undisputed classic of American cinema, bringing colour to the world of monochrome movies. The story, penned by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, follows Dorothy (Judy Garland), who is swept away into the magical Land of Oz, where she must help her new friends to fulfil their wishes and avoid the threat of the Wicked Witch. 

It’s something of a surprising choice from Sandler, considering that none of the movies he’s produced share a similar sense of cinematic scope to The Wizard of Oz. Still, with that being said, there’s something about 2000’s Little Nicky that shows shades of the influence of the 1939 classic, telling the story of a young person who travels to a new world and rediscovers something about themselves.

There’s even a reference to The Wizard of Oz in the movie, with the song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ being heard at one point in Todd’s room, played by Allen Covert.

Check out the trailer for The Wizard of Oz below.