You Don’t Mess with the Zohan opens today, and it’s apparently a terrible waste. Boy, do I miss the days when Adam Sandler played stupid and immature rather than skilled and pretending to be gay. At least then it seemed okay that he was possibly making everyone in the room dumber just for having watched his movie. I guess it’s fair that with everyone else doing man-boy comedy these days Sandler is trying to do something with a hint of a political message, but personally I liked it better when he was the least mannish, most boyish man-boy to hit the screen since Jerry Lewis. Making shampoo and conditioner fight? Comedic genius, in my opinion. Making a modern day Shampoo? Not genius at all.

Looking back at Billy Madison, possibly his least mature but most consistently hilarious feature, it now seems as though Sandler has gone through a My Fair Lady sort of transition. And just as with that musical I prefer Eliza Doolittle with a Cockney accent, with Sandler I prefer the gibberish. I also like when he sings in his movies, as in this other favorite clip from Billy Madison. So here’s an idea: cast Sandler as Eliza’s father, Alfred, in the just-announced film adaptation of the musical. I’d love to hear him sing “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and Mr. Doolittle isn’t meant to be the brightest bulb, either. And yes, before you leave that comment, Sandler is actually old enough to be Keira Knightley’s dad.