Devoted superfan Eloy Lugo has made it his mission to extol the comic genius of the Sandman. Just for Queue, he pens an ode to the towering talent whose work has become a through-line in his life.
I was nine years old when I saw my first Adam Sandler movie. Every Friday, my grandmother would take my siblings and me to the theater after school. One late winter day in 1995, she brought us to see Billy Madison. To my fourth-grade brain, it was perfect. Billy was silly and weird, sweet and well-intentioned. He would leave flaming bags of shit on a stranger’s porch, but he would also call a high school classmate he’d bullied to apologize for his behavior. Sandler’s portrayal of this man-child stuck in permanent adolescence was performed with such gusto that I was immediately entranced by the actor — and I’ve stayed that way ever since.
I’ve watched Sandler’s films over and over — in the theater, on VHS, and now streaming on Netflix. As a kid, when I couldn’t wait for a title to come to home video, I’d sneak a tape recorder into the theater so I could record the audio. I would obsessively listen back to the tapes and memorize every line. I now realize this was illegal, so apologies for that, but I was insatiable.
All told, I invested 638 hours in the endeavor — and came out an even bigger fan.
Eloy Lugo
Even as an adult, my passion for Adam Sandler has known no bounds. The first dance at my wedding was to “Grow Old With You” fromThe Wedding Singer.I have the name “Rirruto” tattooed on my arm, in perfect cursive, as an homage toBilly Madison.To commemorate Sandler’s 51st birthday (September 9, 2017, for those who don’t have the date committed to memory), I decided to watch one of his movies every day for an entire year in the hopes of sparking a critical re-evaluation of his multifaceted filmography. Some people choose yoga to reduce stress; I kicked back with the Sandman, watching 48 titles multiple times. All told, I invested 638 hours in the endeavor — and came out an even bigger fan.
What’s more, Sandler just keeps getting better, as evidenced by his recent award-winning turn in the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems. He has always been versatile — he can play vulnerable, mean, romantic, angry, sweet, silly — but never has he managed to channel all these traits into one performance as seamlessly as he did playing Howard Ratner, an impulsive diamond dealer who makes a series of high-stakes bets that ultimately lead to a violent, tragic downfall. (Note to fans: Uncut Gems is part of the Sandler Cinematic Universe, as Howard yells, “That’s my boy!” in this film — a catchphrase that, by my count, appears in no less than 10 other Sandler movies.)
There was no way for me to know that an after-school family movie outing would come to shape so much of my life. I’m grateful to have experienced so much joy over the last 25 years, courtesy of the Sandman. Here’s to 25 more.