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At the end ofLove You, Adam Sandlers new Netflix special, he moves into a different register.
At the end, though, the goal is to punch you in the feelings.
Youre down, boy.
No one around, boy.
Head in your hands and pain, so much pain.
How can you ever be yourself again?
You know, its comedy.
ButLove Youis not just a long windup toward a thesis about laughter being the best medicine.
The beginning is pure Safdie.
Paparazzi are chasing him.
He switches sweatshirts with a random guy backstage because Sandlers hoodie has coffee on it.
But on and off over the next hour, the interruptions continue.
A piece of equipment falls through a hole in the stage.
Two people in the audience get into a fight, and Sandler has to pause to diffuse it.
Sure, youre at the center of the stage,Love Yousuggests.
Sandlers just trying to keep it all moving.
Hes trying to not be an asshole.
Sandlers two opening jokes both conjure the idea of fame as something to acknowledge and move past.
One is about meeting a woman with a tattoo of Sandler on her calf.
The other is about a friend coming up to Sandler while hes eating grapes and telling Sandler hes changed.
Get outta here, Ive always liked grapes, Sandler tells the guy.
But the other guy keeps insisting he doesnt like this version of Sandler, and eventually he storms out.
Do you think Ive changed?
The rest of the hour tries to shake off that self-consciousness.
There are no sweaty attempts to describe his life in falsely universal terms by focusing on parenting or marriage.
(Even that one, though, finds a little button about fame at the end.)
It is standard Sandler material operating in comfortable territory.
This is not a glamorous job.
This is not always fun.
Its often surreal in very small, unexpected ways, like when Gary strolls out onstage.
And its alsoimportant, which Sandler conveys with absolute earnestness in his final song.
Hes so committed to the bit that hes willing to be the prank victim at his own show.
Hes put upon and exhausted, and he loves this job with a clarity thats almost blinding.
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