While Adam Sandler’s movies may have grossed over 2 billion (and counting) at the box office, we are looking at Adam Sandler's first movie to see where this incredible career got started! While it may have been 1995’s Billy Madison as well as his run on Saturday Night Live that shot him to stardom, it had to have started somewhere and that is what we are looking at today with the first Adam Sandler movie, Going Overboard from 1989.
In this video, part of the series “Celebrities’ First Movie Appearance”, you can see Adam Sandler in his very first movie role in Going Overboard:
Before We Fall Overboard
While Overboard is Adam Sandler's first movie, this was not the first time Adam Sandler would perform. He, of course, started his career as a standup comedian, but his first real acting role came in 1987 where we would play the role of Smitty, a buddy of Theo Huxtable in The Cosby Show. That same year, we would get to see a bit more of the manic kind of comedy that Adam Sandler would become known for as he played The Stud Boy and The Trivia Delinquent on the MTV show, Remote Control.
Art Imitates Life
One of the most interesting things about Going Overboard is that the role Adam Sandler plays could not have been more fitting. Adam Sandler is a struggling stand-up comedian called Schecky Moskowitz and he is working on a cruise ship, trying to get his big break as a comedian. When the ship's regular comedian is thought to have “gone overboard”, Schecky is given his chance to wow the crowd, but he is heckled and things do not go well. Now, what could be a movie about a comedian gaining confidence and winning over the crowd goes kind of nuts and really, when you think of how crazy Adam Sandler’s movies such as Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and Big Daddy are with him playing a somewhat “manic” character, the crazy tone here is cool to see as it was there from day one!
So, You Wanna Get Nuts?
Ok, so what do we mean by Adam Sandler's first movie is crazy? Well, he gets his inspiration to perform by King Neptune, once he gets this confidence, he is able to perform and make the people laugh…. Wait it gets weirder. Turns out some assassins have been sent to the ship to take out Miss Australia who is also on the boat and hijack it, leading to Schecky having to save the day with his comedy…. Oh, there is more! Turns out that General Noriega was the one who sent the assassins! The movie even ends with Noriega firing a bomb! It is safe to say that Going Overboard was not exactly loved by the critics, but some people did get a kick out of the wacky humor, and the way the movie really was kind of nuts.
Some Famous People On The Ship
While we are looking at Going Overboard because it is the first Adam Sandler movie. Adam Sandler has some pretty interesting faces joining him on this cruise, including a couple of people who would go on to become big stars in their own right. We touched on how Schecky got his confidence by talking to King Neptune, but playing the role of King Neptune is a young Billy Zane! This was only his third theatrical credit so it was a very early movie in his career. Also, the man who was heckling Schecky during his performance was played by future Academy Award winner, Billy Bob Thornton! A neat bit of movie trivia is that Going Overboard was also the third theatrical movie credit for Billy Bob Thornton. Kind of awesome how both Billy Zane and Billy Bob Thornton had this as their third movie. Burt Ward who you probably know best as Paulie from the Rocky franchise plays the role of Noriega! It is kind of crazy just how stacked of a cast this movie had!
Finding A New Audience
While Going Overboard was not a massive hit when it was initially released. Vidmark Entertainment who produced the movie and who would later go on to be known as Trimark Pictures before they closed their doors would try and capitalize on the popularity of Adam Sandler in the mid-90s. Going Overboard would be re-released on VHS in 1995 after, Billy Madison had made Adam Sandler a legit movie star. It was a wise decision as the movie proved to be a pretty big hit on rental, probably because the box art now had “ADAM SANDLER” in much bigger text to catch people's attention. It is not an exaggeration to say that most people who saw and loved Billy Madison who then saw Going Overboard in their local video store, gave it a rental!
Falling Overboard For A Third Time
It shows you just how big of a star Adam Sandler is as Adam Sandler's first movie would get released for a third time in the '00s! Hey, they made a killing re-releasing Going Overboard on VHS in the 90s so DVD in the 00s was fair game. The funny thing about this is that when the DVD was released as well as having Adam Sandler’s name highlighted, the front of the DVD also prominently featured the names of Billy Zane and Billy Bob Thornton, both of whom had become much bigger stars at this time. Going Overboard was one of those DVDs that you would find everywhere and it was usually sold very cheaply. Who knows, one of these boutique physical media companies may decide that the first Adam Sandler movie needs to be remastered in high definition….. or even 4K, although we would be very shocked if that were to happen. Still, there are many Adam Sandler fans out there so a special high-def/4K release could potentially do well if someone were willing to take a chance and make it happen.
When it comes to a first theatrical role, Going Overboard is very fitting as Adam Sandler's first movie. It has the manic and wacky humor that many of his ‘90s and earlier 00s movies would be famous for. Plus, this is not some kind of little part with one line of dialogue or even a quick appearance as an extra in a scene, he was the star! Sure the movie may not be amazing, but it does have some quirky moments and if you are a huge fan of his, checking out the first Adam Sandler movie is something we highly recommend that you do.