Nicky (Adam Sandler) is the youngest son of Satan (Harvey Keitel). He has no evil whatsoever, whereas his half-brothers Cassius (Tommy Lister Jr.) and Adrian (Rhys Ifans) have no goodness. Strong Cassius and brainy Adrian leave Hell for New York City, thereby freezing the wall of fire that lets damned souls into the underworld. This causes Satan to begin dying. He actually wants to retire, so he sends Little Nicky to Earth to put his brothers into a flask, which will solve all his problems. Nicky has one week, and if he dies on Earth he can return to Hell and start over again, which he does several times.
On Earth Nicky is guided by Mr. Beefy, a streetwise talking bulldog that often makes wisecracks and entertains us with amusing antics. Mr. Beefy is obviously "inspired" by Frank the Pug in MEN IN BLACK (1997). Digital technology has created realistic animated lips on talking animals in movies. Some people enjoy it very much, and others think it's an over-used boring gimmick they are tired of.
Todd: "You know, this cake tastes kind of funny."
John: "Oh yeah, I dumped a fat sack of reefer into the mix. I thought I'd spice up the batch."
Mr. Beefy: "Really?"
Nicky: "What's Reefer?"
Mr. Beefy: "About five Hundred bucks an ounce."
Nicky has a roommate, Todd (Allen Covert) and falls in love with a fashion school student, Valerie Veran (Patricia Arquette). Eventually he ends up in Heaven and learns that he is half angel, which accounts for his sweetness. Scenes in Heaven are quite lovely, and the film shows that Heaven and Earth are infinitely preferable to Hell. Nicky is rather stupid, goofy, accident-prone, and has a speech impediment--not exactly an appealing character, except in comparison to his family.
Peter: "Drink up. Here's to fifty million clams."
Adrian: "To the defilement of Earth and the corruption of its people."
Peter: "Okay whatever, just drink it."
Adrian: "It's awfully hot down here. How do you manage to stay so cool?"
John: "Uh, beer lowers the body temperature. I read that in a beer magazine."
Adrian: "This liquid would probably quench my thirst, cool me off."
Peter: "Definitely."
John: "It'll give you a pretty good buzz."
Adrian: "Or maybe it will trap me inside for all of eternity."
John: "Uh, no it won't."
Loosely based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", LITTLE NICKY has great sets and wonderful special effects. The Dante's Inferno scenes in Hell are reminiscent of the opening of HELLZAPOPPIN (1941), but are much superior, visually exciting and very colourful and dark at the same time. Most of the movie takes place on Earth, which makes the terrific Heaven and Hell scenes more effective by contrast.
Outrageously funny, this fantasy is also crude, with strong language and sexual humour. Mr. Beefy is good at toilet humour. Film critics generally do not like the movie and they don't think much of Adam Sandler either. One nasty critic complains of his "total inability to act". Why do these jerks write negative reviews of good movies they personally hate? They should understand that any movie that is popular with the public has been democratically elected as a success, a good movie.
There are many gag cameos by Sandler's Saturday Night Live friends. Jon Lovitz is a peeping Tom, Kevin Nealon is the gatekeeper of Hell, and Dana Carvey is a possessed basketball referee. The list goes on. Other cameos include Quentin Tarantino, Henry Winkler, and Ozzy Osbourne--who saves the day.
The cast also includes: Rodney Dangerfield (Lucifer, Satan's father), Peter Dante (Peter), Jonathan Loughran (John), Reese Witherspoon (Angel Holly), Carl Weathers (Chubbs Peterson), Michael McKean (Police Chief), Blake Clark (Jimmy the Demon), Rob Schneider (Townie), Clint Howard (Nipples), Jackie Sandler (Angel Jenna), Leah Lail (Angel Christa), Lewis Arquette (Cardinal), George Wallace (Mayor Randolph), Christopher Carroll (Hitler), Ellen Cleghorne (Mom), Reggie McFadden (Dad), Laura Harring (Mrs. Dunleavy), Isaiah Griffin (Scottie Dunleavy), Brandon Rosenberg (Baby Zazariah), Kevin Grady (Fitzie), Salvatore Cavaliere (Sal the Demon), and many others.
The script was written by Tim Herlihy, Steven Brill and Adam Sandler, who also co-produced with eight others. Steven Brill directed. Music is by Teddy Castellucci.
Little Nicky basically just wants to be alone in his bedroom and listen to heavy metal music. Therefore the soundtrack reflects this: "Highway To Hell" by AC/DC, "Rock You Like A Hurricane" by Scorpions, "No More Tears" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Running With The Devil" by Van Halen, and 17 others.
