Magnifioso, Delicioso: Adam Sandler has finally returned to 'SNL'

There was an incredible cognitive dissonance to watch one of the Saturday Night LiveThe most famous members of the cast of the 90 come to welcome us (for the first time!) In 2019 and we feast jokes on Game of thrones and President Trump and Kevin Durant (maybe!) go to the Knicks. There was also an undeniable joy, wonderfully simple.

He was there: Adam Sandler, the Sandman, with another upcoming movie on Netflix to promote (co-starring with Jennifer Aniston!) And his choice among several indelible dozens of the Clinton era SNL characters to resume. After apologizing to Canteen Boy, Opera Man was a wise choice for what is, hopefully, not Sandler's last concert, in the premise: Sandler dresses up as an opera singer and makes one of the newspapers with a fluffy accent of Olive Garden. – is just stupid enough to be timeless.

Let's just say that he can still make a hit line like "Kentucky Derby very fast-o / One first and last last / Winning horse is magnifioso / Losing horse is delicioso"Sing. Let's just say that "Grope-a grope-a / Sniff-a sniff-a" is an introductory and childish phrase of the theme song that Joe Biden deserves. Let's just say that if someone was going to rhyme They are afraid of dismissing with Putin makes me his beechI'm glad it's him. All this was absurd and a little disturbing and extremely formidable. "It's been a long time since I have anything left to do," said Opera Man, climatically. "Twenty-four years and 24 pounds-ah."

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Sandler was fired from SNL (with Chris Farley!) in 1995 and then became a blockbuster star to the test of critics; Opera Man also briefly touched on the new Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen, romcom Long Shot, and how his premise "Pretty lady / Dingo man-ah" seemed terribly familiar. (Rogen was delighted.) Indeed, Sandler's soliloquy consisted of a song titled, presumably, "I Was Fired", with interventions by Chris Rock (also referred!) And Pete Davidson (keep trying!), As well as a last verse which was as follows:

I was fired, I was fired
NBC said that I had finished
Then I earned over $ 4 billion at the box office
So, I guess you could say that I've won

For millennia (and youngest!) Who are not immersed in the tradition of pop culture of the 90s and who may know that Sandler as the type that makes extremely polarizing movies on Netflix, Saturday night had to be a little confusing. The guy is 52 years old, for one thing. ("I should have gone back to the show before it was HD," he conceded last week Late at night with Seth Meyers.) And devoid of any context, it has the cold but volatile atmosphere of this distinct phylum of SNL host where there are three chances out of three that he forgets the name of the musical guest while presenting it. (Shawn Mendes did a reworked version of "In My Blood" with four cellos; Sandler has nailed the intro both times.)

The episode was therefore divided between the usual and warm approach of the series to the news (the Cold Open was a Avengers vs. Game of thrones edition of Family quarrel Leslie Jones delivered the line "Bitch, I'm Groot") and a total nostalgia. (A skit was a "Sandler family meeting" composed of various cast members – and Kristen Wiig, and Jimmy Fallon – who made impressions of his various hit movie characters.) By and large, to get the most out of this episode, you had to be old enough to that all this is happening,, way, past your bedtime. Your reward was that you could watch a 52-year-old guy make jokes about CNN war zone reporters who used Snapchat filters and still looked like a majestic 14-year-old.

The episode as a whole was far from perfect: it included a first video clip spectacularly uncomfortable for a song about "The clothes are holes" in which Sandler is somehow imitated Slash and Axl Rose simultaneouslyBut it was a reminder of how perfect he always was for this show. He may underestimate if you really need him: The best sketch that did not take advantage of past glory introduced Sandler as a tour operator in Italy, trying to remind depressed people that they will always be depressed on vacation in Italy. ("The images you are going to attract.") But, as always, Sandler makes it all the more sense that everything around him is stronger, more stupid, and more stupid. That's to say that at one point, Kate McKinnon ejaculated Windex in her mouth in a bar while chatting with Kristen Wiig. (Wiig's mandate to SNL Of course, Sandler does not duplicate Sandler's, but who complains?) Impressive, given the value of his story over the quarter century, he returned to the rank of conquering hero, but with the chops of an old man who had never left at all.

And for his final act on Saturday night, he did something even more surprising.

Specifically, Sandler sang an incredibly soft and incredibly tender song about Chris Farley, his former casting buddy and his beloved friend. (His very good special comedy Netflix 2018 100% fresh It's a moment of disarming beauty, both improvised and deeply sincere, a tearful tribute that captured both the comedy and the tragedy of one of the most famous members of the "After a show, he drank a pint of Jack Daniel's and stuck the bottle," sang Sandler, a replica that always makes you laugh and always hurts.

He was moving on a level SNL almost never even approach; In fact, the whole episode was due to Sandler's inimitable mix of veteran challenge and eternal challenge for kids. He was happy to be there in a way that made you even happier to see him be there. "For my wife and children, I'm glad you have to testify," announced at his farewell. "Because I loved it here, man."