“I couldn’t hold in my laughter”: The Jack Nicholson scene that broke Adam Sandler
Serious actors venturing into broad comedy has been part and parcel of cinema for almost as long as the moving image has existed, with Jack Nicholson going out of his way to dedicate the majority of his twilight years to more light-hearted fare.
The legendary star had never been averse to the idea of tickling funny bones, but by his own admission, it was the aftermath of 9/11 that convinced him to leave the hard-hitting drama behind in favour of exploring the lighter side of the profession.
That pivot was clear as day, too, with every single one of Nicholson’s pictures between 2002 and his retirement a decade later being comedies in one way or another. Even Martin Scorsese’s The Departed carried plenty of laughs, largely derived from Nicholson hamming it up and gnawing on the scenery when he went off on one of his improvisational tangents.
Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt balanced its humour with heart and pathos, Something’s Gotta Give paired Nicholson with Diane Keaton in a light and fluffy romance aimed towards viewers of their generation, The Bucket List partnered him with Morgan Freeman for an elegiac look back at a life unlived and making the most of whatever time is left, and How Do You Know was a big fat bomb on every level.
The broadest by far saw Nicholson pit his wits against Adam Sandler in 2003’s Anger Management, where the latter plays a man sent to attend the titular classes to avoid jail time following an incident aboard a plane. Unfortunately for Dave Buznik, he quickly discovers that Dr Buddy Rydell’s approach to drumming bad habits out of those seeking his guidance is anything but orthodox.
It’s a standard Sandler vehicle that doesn’t seek to reinvent the wheel, but things are inevitably elevated by virtue of Nicholson’s presence. He pitches his performance squarely towards the cheap seats, and his histrionics allow the three-time Academy Award winner to cut loose and swing for the fences in a way very few of his other performances had ever allowed him to indulge.
The downside, for Sandler at least, was that he developed a habit of ruining multiple takes after breaking character at one of Nicholson’s most memorable rants, explaining to the BBC that something as innocuous as relaying how he liked his eggs to be cooked was enough to have him creasing at the seams.
“I laughed my ass off at every take where Nicholson takes his plate of eggs and throws it against the wall,” the actor and producer admitted. “I enjoyed hearing him scream: ‘I said over easy!’ I don’t know why that made me laugh but I couldn’t hold in my laughter.”
It’s literally four words and five syllables, but there’s a reason why ‘it’s all in the delivery’ is one of acting’s favourite adages. It was an easy enough line to deliver on paper, but when it was Nicholson standing opposite, Sandler couldn’t control himself from bursting out laughing every time.
