I have not been an Adam Sandler fan, mostly because of the infantile movies he has made. Going in with a bit of a prejudice, I was very pleased to see that Mr. Sandler is not just a very funny man but a very good actor! This is a film about comedians and it really gets into the lives of some very intense people who have their gifts of comedy to make up for other losses in their lives. I was very impressed and would see it again!!
Amidst all the hype that it received, I really found it to be very predictable and somewhat copying "Forrest Gump" in its cheesy dialogue. Unfortunately, if there were any lessons to be learned, the length of the movie burned them out by being so damned long!!! Acting was decent, not great......
Compared to other films up for the Oscars, it is not deserving of any award except for perhaps the supporting actress (Taraji P Henson) who was very good,.