''Eight Crazy Nights'', also known as ''Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights'', is a 2002 American

adult animated An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and ...

Hanukkah Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by Seth Kearsley (in his feature directorial debut), written by

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

Allen Covert Allen Stephen Covert (born October 13, 1964) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his starring role in the 2006 comedy film '' Grandma's Boy'', and his supporting actor role in the movie '' Strange Wilderne ...

, Brooks Arthur and Brad Issacs, and produced by Sandler, Covert and Jack Giarraputo. It stars Sandler in his first voice-acting role, alongside future wife Jackie Titone, Austin Stout,

Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider ( ; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor and comedian. He rose to prominence as a cast member on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (1990–1994), where he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Following ...

Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He has earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He first gained widespread attention during his tenure as a cast member on ...

Norm Crosby Norman Lawrence Crosby (September 15, 1927 – November 7, 2020) was an American comedian born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was often referred to as "The Master of Malaprop". Early and personal life Crosby was born and was raised in Dorchester ...

and

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz ( ; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Pr ...

. The film centers on

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

characters alongside

. The title is taken from a line in Sandler's series of songs called "

The Chanukah Song "The Chanukah Song" is a novelty song written by comedian Adam Sandler with ''Saturday Night Live'' writers Lewis Morton and Ian Maxtone-Graham and originally performed by Sandler on ''Saturday Night Live''s Weekend Update on December 3, 1994. Sand ...

" that compares the gift-giving traditions of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and Hanukkah: "Instead of one day of presents, we get eight crazy nights!" A new version of "The Chanukah Song" also plays over the film's closing credits. Produced by Sandler's production company

Happy Madison Productions Happy Madison Productions, Inc. is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1999 by Adam Sandler, which is best known for its comedy films. Happy Madison takes its name from the films ''Happy Gilmore'' and '' Bill ...

(as its first animated film), ''Eight Crazy Nights'' was released in the United States on November 27, 2002, by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. The film grossed $23.8 million and was panned by critics, but has gained a small cult following.

Plot

Davey Stone is a 33-year-old Jewish

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

with a criminal record that has earned him animosity in his hometown of Dukesberry,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Taken to

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

for his recent activity on the first night of Hanukkah, Whitey Duvall, an aging volunteer

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

from Davey's former basketball league, convinces the judge to have him do

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

as a referee-in-training for his Youth Basketball League, but on one condition – if Davey commits another crime before his tenure at the league concludes, he will be sentenced to ten years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

. As Davey harasses the players at his first game, Whitey has a

seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

and the game is abruptly halted with Davey forfeiting it to the opposing team. Attempting to calm Davey down, Whitey takes him to the mall, where they meet Davey's childhood crush Jennifer Friedman, now a divorced single mother who has moved back to Dukesberry and taken a job at the local mall, and her pre-teen son Benjamin. Davey still secretly harbors feelings for Jennifer, but Whitey reminds Davey that he lost his chances with Jennifer years ago. As time progresses, Whitey's various attempts to encourage Davey are met with humiliation and assault. Later, Davey bonds with Benjamin while playing basketball at the community center, but the latter's unsportsman-like behavior, encouraged by Davey, earns him the ire of his mother. On their respective rides home, they reminisce about their happy childhood together and how much things have changed. When Davey gets home, his trailer is being burned down by one of the men who lost the basketball match to him, though Davey runs inside to rescue a Hanukkah card from his late parents. Whitey invites Davey to live with him and his diabetic twin sister Eleanore; Davey reluctantly accepts. To keep Davey in line, Whitey and Eleanore explain the complex rules of the household, stating that Davey will be evicted if he does not abide. Davey slowly starts to turn his life around, until one day at a skating rink, Whitey recalls Davey's past—en route to one of Davey's basketball games, Davey's parents died in a car accident and he learned of the tragedy shortly after winning the game. He spent the rest of his childhood in and out of foster facilities and state homes, followed by numbing his pain with alcohol and

petty crime A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offe ...

during his

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

and ostracizing himself from Jennifer and his other friends. Enraged after being reminded of his trauma, Davey insults Whitey and Eleanore, resulting in a heartbroken Whitey evicting him from his house. Davey spends the rest of the day binge-drinking. That night, he breaks into the closed mall and hallucinates the logos and mascots of various stores coming to life and confronting him about his inability to grieve. He finally opens his parents' Hanukkah card, which contains a heartfelt message asking him not to change who he is, and Davey finally allows himself to mourn his parents. When the police arrive to arrest him, Davey escapes and boards a bus to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but the bus is forced to stop when a thumbtack in the road punctures all rear tires. Reminded of the Miracle of Hanukkah, Davey sets out to find and make amends with Whitey. Davey finds Whitey at the All-Star Banquet, an annual town celebration in which one member of the community is recognized for positive contributions with the "Dukesberry All-Star Patch", which Whitey has sought after for thirty-five years. When Whitey is passed over again, he resolves to move to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to live the remainder of his life in anonymity. Davey reminds the townspeople of the abuse they, and he himself, have subjected Whitey to throughout his life and the selfless contributions he has made to the community in spite of that. Davey leads them to Whitey, who has gone to the mall with Eleanore. The townspeople thank Whitey for his service over the years and the mayor officially grants him the Patch Award, with previous recipients giving him theirs as well. As Davey and Jennifer reconcile, Whitey goes into another seizure that he enjoys.

Voice cast

as: ** Davey Stone *** Josh Uhler portrays his younger self ** Whitey Duvall ** Eleanore Duvall ** The vocal effects of Dukesberry's local

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

* Jackie Titone as Jennifer Friedman **

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

provides her singing voice, while Ali Hoffman portrays her younger self. * Austin Stout as Benjamin Friedman ** Jason Houseman provides his singing voice *

as: ** The film's narrator ** Mr. Chang, the owner of Dukesberry's local

Chinese restaurant A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese style, due to the history of the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, though other Chinese regional cuisine, regional cuisin ...

as Mayor Dewey ** James Barbour provides his singing voice *

Carmen Filpi Carmen Filpi (March 22, 1923 – May 9, 2003) was an American character actor who starred in films and on television. Biography His first acting job was in the 1969 film ''Wild Gypsies''. He also starred in '' The Ice Pirates'' (1984), '' Pee-We ...

as a

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

man *

as the

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

as Tom Baltezor

Additional voices

The rest of the cast are listed under this section in the end credits: *

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

gown *

Blake Clark Blake Clark is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as Chet Hunter on '' Boy Meets World'' and Harry Turner on '' Home Improvement''. Clark has voiced Slinky Dog in the ''Toy Story'' franchise starting with 2008's '' Toy Sto ...

Radio Shack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, which shifted its focus from ma ...

walkie-talkie *

Peter Dante Peter Francis Dante (born December 16, 1968) is an American character actor, comedian and singer. He appeared in films from Happy Madison Productions alongside Adam Sandler 7 times until his controversial arrest led to the pair separating. Care ...

Foot Locker Foot Locker, Inc. is an American multinational retailer of footwear, sportswear, urban youth apparel and accessories headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in over 40 countries. Although established in 1974, and ...

referee *

Ellen Albertini Dow Ellen Rose Albertini Dow (November 16, 1913 – May 4, 2015) was an American film and television character actress and drama coach. She portrayed feisty old ladies and is best known as the rapping grandmother Rosie in ''The Wedding Singer'' (1 ...

See's Candies See's Candy Shops, Inc., Trade name, doing business as See's Candies, is an American manufacturer and distributor of candy, particularly chocolates. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California ...

box *

Kevin Farley Kevin Prindiville Farley (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor, singer, comedian, writer, producer and director. He is the younger brother of American comedian and actor Chris Farley. Early life, family and education Kevin Farley was born i ...

Panda Express Panda Express is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in American Chinese cuisine. With over 2,400 locations, it is the largest Asian-segment restaurant chain in the United States, and is mainly located in North America and Asi ...

giant panda * Lari Friedman as

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (sometimes shortened to simply "Coffee Bean" or "The Coffee Bean") is an American coffee chain founded in 1963. It was previously owned and operated by International Coffee & Tea, LLC based in Los Angeles, California, ...

cup *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

The Sharper Image Sharper Image is an American brand that offers consumers home electronics, air purifiers, gifts, and other lifestyle products through its website, catalog, and third-party retailers. The brand is owned by ThreeSixty Group, with the U.S. catalog a ...

chair * Dylan Sprouse and

Cole Sprouse Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' (2005–2008), and its spin-off series ''The Suite Life on Deck'' (2008– ...

as the

KB Toys K·B Toys (also known as Kay Bee Toys) was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wh ...

soldiers *

Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (January 14, 1948 – February 1, 2024) was an American actor, director and gridiron football player. His prominent roles included boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–1985), Colonel Al Dillon in ''Predat ...

as GNC bottle * Jamie Alcroft as Eli Wolstan * Brooks Arthur as Rabbi Fliegel *

as: ** A

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus st ...

** Mayor Dewey's

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

wife ** An old woman **

Lainie Kazan Lainie Kazan (born Lainie Levine; May 15, 1940) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for ''St. Elsewhere'' and the 1993 Tony Award for Best Featured Actr ...

provides the latter's singing voice * Judith Sandler as Mrs. Stone **

Ann Wilson Ann Dustin Wilson (born June 19, 1950) is an American singer best known as the lead singer of the rock band Heart. Wilson has been a member of Heart since the early 1970s; her younger sister, Nancy Wilson, is also a member of the band. One o ...

provides the character's singing voice * Stan Sandler as Mr. Stone **

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979, and from 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the so ...

provides the character's singing voice *

Archie Hahn Archie Hahn may refer to: * Archie Hahn (actor) (born 1941), American actor * Archie Hahn (athlete) Charles Archibald Hahn (September 14, 1880 – January 21, 1955) was an American track athlete and is widely regarded as one of the best sprin ...

as a television announcer

Production

''Eight Crazy Nights'' was animated by several studios, including Anvil Studios, A. Film A/S,

Bardel Entertainment Bardel Entertainment (formerly Bardel Animation, Bardel Entertainment Inc.) is a Canadian animation studio founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1987. The studio's name comes from its founders, Barry Ward and his wife Delna Bhesania. Bardel ...

, Goldenbell Animation, Marina Motion Animation, Spaff Animation, Tama Production, Time Lapse Pictures, Y. R. Studio and Yowza! Animation. It was the only animated film that Adam Sandler worked on until ''

Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American media franchise created by Todd Durham and owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It consists of four animated feature films, three short films, an animated television series, and several video games. The ...

'' in 2012, and remains the only traditionally-animated film with his involvement. This was also the first and only film produced by Meatball Productions, the animation division of

. Kearsley revealed in an email to Doug Walker that certain elements of the film that were notorious, specifically the feces-eating deer scene and even Whitey's voice (which was originally more high-pitched and annoying), were intended to be cut, but were kept due to "focus groups" who had seen the film (who lowered Whitey's voice), as well as the fact that the product placements were used without permission.

Music

The soundtrack was released on November 27, 2002 by Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax. The soundtrack contains every song in the film, including the new installment of "The Chanukah Song" and a deleted song, called "At the Mall", sung by Whitey as he strolls through the mall in an alternate opening, included on the DVD release. The soundtrack was pressed onto vinyl in 2021 for the ''Vinyl Me, Please'' record club.

Release

''Eight Crazy Nights'' came in at fifth place on its opening weekend among U.S. box office, making only $14 million since its Wednesday launch. It only grossed a total of $23.6 million in North America and negligible foreign box office receipts, for a total of only $23.8 million worldwide.

Critical reception

Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film two out of four possible stars and criticized the film's dour tone, saying that "The holidays aren't very cheerful in Sandlerville." Matthew Rozsa of ''Salon'' called it the best known

Hanukkah film A Hanukkah film is a Film genre, genre of film in which the main emphasis is on the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Films in this style may incorporate the religious aspects of Hanukkah, such as lighting the menorah (Hanukkah), meno ...

despite its poor quality. William Thomas of ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' gave the film a one out of five stars, saying, "File under 'What the hell were they thinking?'. With this, and '' Mr. Deeds'', Sandler's pulled off quite the combo. Avoid like the plague." Sandler won a

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Kids' Choice Award for "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie". He was also nominated twice for the 2002

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they were nomi ...

for his performances in both ''Eight Crazy Nights'' and '' Mr. Deeds''.

Home media

''Eight Crazy Nights'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and single and two-disc edition

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on November 4, 2003 by

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library ...

. The two-disc "special edition" features

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...

s, several audio commentaries, and Sandler's

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''A Day with the Meatball'', among other bonus features. A

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

was issued on December 13, 2016.

References

Han, K. Hubie Halloween is one of Adam Sandler’s sweeter gross-out comedies. Polygon. October 7, 2020. https://www.polygon.com/entertainment/2020/10/7/21504777/hubie-halloween-review-adam-sandler-netflix-kevin-james.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eight Crazy Nights 2002 films 2002 American animated films 2000s buddy comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s musical comedy films Adult animated comedy films Adult animated musical films American adult animated films American animated comedy films American basketball films American buddy comedy films American musical comedy films American animated musical films Animation based on real people English-language musical comedy films Films about alcoholism Films about orphans Films produced by Adam Sandler Films produced by Jack Giarraputo Films scored by Teddy Castellucci Films set in 1981 Animated films set in the 1980s Films set in 2001 Films set in New Hampshire Films with screenplays by Adam Sandler Films with screenplays by Allen Covert Hanukkah films Happy Madison Productions films Columbia Pictures animated films Columbia Pictures films Animated films set in New England Animated films set in the 2000s Animated films about Jews and Judaism English-language buddy comedy films Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award–winning films 2002 musical films Internet memes