The Week of, written by Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel

The Week of, written by Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel

Steve Buscemi stars in this comedy, but the merriment of learning about that is soon annulled by the realization that his presence in this feature is just a waste of talent and for viewers it is most likely a waste of time, although, if one has voted for the Donald, why not enjoy something like this.

Perhaps the way to look at this is by using the lenses of “absurd humor or theater”, in the manner of the pioneering Eugen Ionesco, one should look for roaming Rhinoceros on the streets and find them…hilarious.

Adam Sandler has the role of Kenny- and he is one of those responsible for this calamitous (?) material- a would be father-in-law that tries to make the upcoming wedding a success, even if he does not have the financial acumen, the willingness to spend more in order to ensure all goes well.

The other in-law is Doctor Kirby, a reputable surgeon played without enthusiasm – perhaps understandable given the quality of the script- by Chris Rock, who talks on the phone early on, but while he is operating on a patient, whose beating heart is visible and supposedly…funny.

It is not just Kenny calling this doctor while performing his duty and the calls are so long as to become annoying- it is doubtful is there was anything jocular in there- and the attempts of provoking hilarity are silly- the touch screen is insensitive to the efforts of the surgeon and he uses the limbs of the man who is unconscious, on the operating table.

Too many people are supposed to attain the happy ceremony, given that most of them are supposed to pass through the home of Kenny, willy-nilly, and this is again an element that is supposed to make you roll over in laughter…but is it going to work? Allegedly.

One of the first guests is a man with no legs, whose condition nevertheless was unknown to the organizer who has to cope with this adversity- and oh so many others! - with a the first inconvenience at the airport where he finds that the wheel chair belongs to the airport and the man pushing it is not the nurse he was hoping for, but a temporary help.

The chair that does arrive would not fold and therefore the car has to be left with the opened hood- they need to stop anyway, because the disabled man needs to use the restroom and no, he has no diaper and this is a number two emergency anyway, for which he cannot wait, in spite of the laments of the desperate Kenny.

Evidently, when they stop, the wheel chair, which would not fold to make more space in the car, does not open now and this is ridiculous…the protagonist has to take the legless man in his arms in a restaurant on the way, then in the house, where he is the first unpleasant surprise for his wife.

There will be a series, for they have a cousin who has another condition, in which people cannot smoke, drink, listen to music – at a wedding, comes the obvious rhetorical question!- and almost anything else, because they would all be triggers and the young man will collapse again.

One very slightly funny moment- and there only very few…three maybe? - is connected with this absurd situation, for they are at a sort of a dance club where the people have to well, dance, but without music, because that is a trigger.

From the side of the groom, many people come and Kenny has reserved rooms at a very bad hotel, operated by a pleasant man from India- maybe- who has a Buddhist trance meditation attitude to most of the disasters taking place in his property…and there are so many.

The would be father in law wants a presidential suit for his rich surgeon in-law, only there is nothing like that, except a room that is slightly bigger and which has a color TV- that would be pointed out when the honored guest would arrive, with the only result that this is impressed by the…terrible state of this accommodation.

The organizer sees the lamentable state of the hotel he is recommending and tries to suggest some improvements, such as…a chandelier from his own house- that would fall on the head of the surgeon- some supposedly additional touches of class (?!), including a photo of his grandmother…you were forewarned, the humor- if there is any- borders on the absurd.

The touch that this viewer liked- Alhamdulillah for that, otherwise this would be the ultimate desert of the comedy genre! - was the contribution of the Indian hotel owner- in retrospect this man was a pleasure to watch and it is in large part because he had little to say and he has a charisma that was not spoiled by the preposterous dialogue- and his inclusion on the room of a…

Toaster! With four slots!

Otherwise, the exorbitantly wealthy surgeon- who has such a rich clientele that people at the party ask him and he mentions the sad- was it?- Rosie O’Donnell- it was probably somebody else, but of the same obscure importance for this cinefile-has to be happy that he has…color television in his luxurious J room.

A very much played theme – to a nauseating point actually – regarded the man without legs, who, given his advanced age is taken for a war veteran in various locations, from the baseball field to the dance room, where people come and thank him for his service and Kenny and others encourage the false belief that he lost his legs in the war, fighting for his and their country, when the truth is he lost them to diabetes- if you do not see it, this another outré attempt at humor.

There is even a puffed up attempt of using the mayor, public money and a city hall to host the ceremony- disguised as a thank you ceremony for the “war hero”- seeing as the hotel of the most charming character in the motion picture is now leaking everywhere.

In conclusion, try one of the Best Comedies of All Time, from the AFI or another prestigious list and avoid this failure…seeing as Steve Buscemi has had other great performances in some of the best films of all time, may you could consider either Reservoir Dogs or Fargo…