8 Crazy Nights MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -4

This animated, musical comedy, with many of the voices performed by Adam Sandler, is being marketed to kids as a holiday cartoon. But it is crude, obnoxious, and a far cry from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Hanukah is beginning in the town of Dukesberry and Davey Stone, a 33-year-old, troubled bully, gets himself arrested for being drunk. Davey is still angry over his parents dying in a car wreck on Hanukah when he was 12. Davey is sentenced to prison, but stepping in to take him under supervision is an old basketball referee named Whitey. Davey doesnt like his overseer and shows it through his constant anger, profanity and rampages, but Whitey is patient with him. The love interest is Jennifer, Daveys childhood girlfriend, who moves back to town as a single mother. Eventually Daveys mobile home is destroyed by a fire, so he has to move in with Whitey and his sister Eleanor, an eccentric with a big wig collection. Living under Whiteys and Eleanors house rules, Davey begins to soften. He is forced to confront his past when he reads a card that was found in his parents car the night they were killed.

This is a knee-slapping and a hanky-grabbing movie in one that is laced with profanities and vulgarities. It is intended to be a feel-good movie, but its attempt as a redemptive story falls short. The humor is based on sexual references and bodily functions, from Daveys excruciatingly long burp in a crowded Chinese restaurant to his passing gas onto carolers. Other stunts include a fat mans jockstrap that must be eaten after a bet and an elderly man covered with human waste. Sandler does an excellent job with the character voices of Davey, Whitey and Eleanor, especially in the song titled Technical Foul, which gets a lot of laughs. The other character voices are good too, including the Chinese waiter, the narrator (both by Rob Schneider), and the mayor (Kevin Nealon). The effects are impressive with the mall scenes and Whiteys car looking like the real thing. While this animated musical is funny, it is not for kids because of the language, sexual content and vulgarities, and it is not for adults because of the immature humor.

Preview Reviewer: Lynn Nusser
Distributor: Sony Pictures