Adam Sandler

Murder Mystery 2 features Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler. The film released on March 31, 2023, on Netflix.

Aniston and Sandler literally sleepwalk through the film like they were on a paid holiday and couldn’t care less. Unfortunately, Murder Mystery 2, which is the second part of the 2019 film of the same title, is a big fat mess of an excuse for a film. There are elephants, a mehendi ceremony, Aniston dressed in a Manish Malhotra lehenga and the staple ‘band baaja baraat’ songs. [By Tushar Joshi](/author/tushar-joshi): Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler are perhaps two of the biggest names when it comes to being a movie star. Nick (Audrey) and Audrey (Aniston) Spitz are a quirky rom-com couple whose inside jokes and banter involve farts and other bodily dysfunctions. So, when someone comes up with the idea of casting them together in a follow-up to a strictly average rom-com, eyes brows are bound to be raised.

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston lift a lazy follow-up to their action-heavy Netflix comedy with genuine movie star charm.

[Netflix](https://www.theguardian.com/media/netflix), the film sure to be another much-watched and endlessly followed-up sequel. [Murder Mystery](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/14/murder-mystery-review-netflix-adam-sandler-jennifer-aniston), his most watched Netflix film to date was one that didn’t exactly straddle these two halves but made for a more acceptable use of his sillier side, thanks greatly to the appearance of Jennifer Aniston. [Hustle](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/05/hustle-review-adam-sandler-scores-in-rags-to-riches-tale) and simultaneously, we’ve seen the Safdies squeeze out his best work in Uncut Gems (the trio will collaborate again with a new film set in the world of sports memorabilia) and later this year he’ll star alongside Carey Mulligan in the offbeat sci-fi drama Spaceman.

The clues in 'Murder Mystery 2' are clever and inclusive, like the music at the 'sangeet' for a jolly travelogue pulled along smoothly on the rails of ...

At the sangeet, the couple meets the other guests, including the haughty Countess Sekou (Jodie Turner-Smith), who was engaged to Vikram, and her assistant with a bizarre giggle, Imani (Zurin Villanueva), Col. There are 400 guests/suspects and it is time for former SAS mercenary, top-level hostage negotiator and writer of the ultimate textbook on detective work, Miller (Mark Strong) to step in. That clue with the henna was rather clever and inclusive as was all the music at the sangeet. The dashing duo head to the sangeet, a kind of rehearsal dinner, as Vikram’s shop-girl-turned-fiancée, Claudette, (Mélanie Laurent) helpfully explains. When their friend, Maharaja Vikram (Adeel Akhtar) invites them to an island for his wedding, it seems like just the break the two need. Despite solving many mysteries including one aboard the Orient Express (which if you remember the couple were setting off on at the end of the 2019 movie), the couple is struggling to get their business going.

3/5 This is what you watch if it seems as if 'Glass Onion' might require too many brain cells.

"Murder Mystery 2" director Jeremy Garelick told Insider that he wanted to keep the cast guessing who the killer was while filming in Paris.

["Murder Mystery 2"](https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-roasted-adam-sandler-sweatshirt-murder-mystery-2-premiere-2023-3) director Jeremy Garelick said that he lied to the cast, including Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, about changing the ending to the film to keep them guessing who the killer was. [In the sequel](https://www.insider.com/drew-barrymore-first-hot-flash-with-jennifer-aniston-adam-sandler-2023-3), which is now streaming on Netflix, Nick ( [Adam Sandler](https://www.insider.com/best-and-worst-films-adam-sandler-has-ever-been-in)) and Audrey ( [Jennifer Aniston](https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-fun-facts-2019-3)) Spitz are on a mission to save their friend the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) after he is kidnapped at his own wedding. "I never set out to make a movie for critics," Garelick said. [While critics heavily panned the first "Murder Mystery" movie, it broke viewing records for the streaming platform.](https://www.insider.com/critics-hated-murder-mystery-even-though-it-broke-netflix-records-2019-6) "We really wanted to find that balance of: 'Is this person the bad guy?' 'Is this person the bad guy?' 'Oh, wait, no. "I think I told all of them that we were thinking about changing the ending, depending on what was happening and just to get in their minds," Garelick said with a laugh. Then it's amazing." "I set out to make a movie for the audience and for people. ["Murder Mystery 2"](https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-took-care-adam-sandler-murder-mystery-2-set-2023-3) is now available to stream on Netflix. "I hope that we have some critical success," he added. [The pair](https://www.insider.com/adam-sandler-crashed-jennifer-aniston-interview-live-kelly-and-ryan-2023-3) soon theorizes that the kidnapper, and the killer of the Maharajah's bodyguard, is likely a member of the wedding party. [Nick and Audrey](https://www.insider.com/jennifer-aniston-friends-offensive-gen-z-sensitivity-comedy-2023-3) trying to figure out who did it, and thinking that we're smart and then being told we're not."

"Murder Mystery 2" might be the epitome of what amounts to a "Netflix movie," which is to say that as long as you're paying for a subscription already, ...

The two thus jump at the opportunity to attend a destination wedding on an island paradise thrown by the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar), who is marrying Claudette (Mélanie Laurent, like most of the supporting cast, deserving better), who has “trophy wife” written all over her. The sequel charitably shoots for a sort of more violent “The Thin Man” vibe, but about the best one can say for the movie is that it’s mercifully short. The near-four-year gap between movies does help in one respect, allowing people to largely forget what left them unimpressed about the original.

'Murder Mystery 2' Review: Adam Sandler & Jennifer Aniston Can't Solve This Middling Sequel · What is the line between parody and sincerity? · The oddest thing ...

That the clumsiness of the characters extends to the film itself makes Murder Mystery 2 a sequel which is not only inferior in its construction, but in how it doesn’t take advantage of its talented leading duo who are left roaming with nowhere to go. Of course, much of this is the entire point of the experience. This could be forgiven if it really let loose and the reveal of who was behind it actually caught us off guard. Rather than get a chuckle, it just makes for a reference that only calls attention to how this is inferior compared to the already imperfect first outing. [Murder Mystery](https://collider.com/tag/murder-mystery/), it was primarily the chemistry of [Adam Sandler](https://collider.com/new-adam-sandler-safdie-brothers-film-plot-details/) and [Jennifer Aniston](https://collider.com/tag/jennifer-aniston/) as the Spitzs that ensured a balance was struck. In many key shots, it strains credulity that any of the people are actually standing where the film wants us to believe they are. As a result, this makes it increasingly difficult to connect with an experience that is oscillating between tones and diminishing both. Thus, when they get an invite by their old friend Vikram AKA The Maharajah ( [Adeel Akhtar](https://collider.com/tag/adeel-akhtar/)) to come to a wedding on a private island, they decide to go in order to unwind. It is a callback to when this happened in the first film, but without any of the absurd thrills that followed it. [Mélanie Laurent](https://collider.com/tag/melanie-laurent/)), his previous fiancé Countess Sekou ( [Jodie Turner-Smith](https://collider.com/the-acolyte-jodi-turner-smith-star-wars-comments/)), his sister Saira (Kuhoo Verma), his friend Francisco (Enrique Arce), and the returning Colonel Ulenga (John Kani). Caught in the middle of all this once more are the bumbling duo of Nick (Sandler) and Audrey (Aniston) who have fallen on hard times since the events of the last film. What is the line between parody and sincerity?

At 56, the formerly juvenile funnyman has matured into a subtler, more nuanced comedy performer. It's why the “Murder Mystery” films work so well.

Well-respected in his field, Stanley longs for a position on the bench: In his mid-50s and with a wife and teenage daughter he rarely sees, he badly wants to spend less time on the road and more time at home. [Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/80245104)), a goofy horror parody very much in the style of [vintage Happy Madison productions](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls079301020/), stars Sandler as Hubie Dubois, a sweet-natured simpleton reminiscent of the characters he played in “Little Nicky” and “The Waterboy.” (As in those films, Sandler speaks entirely in a squeaky, abrasive voice.) The difference is that “Hubie” leans into Sandler’s latent sweetness, counterbalancing the raunchy lowbrow humor with a heartfelt — perhaps even sentimental — touch. There’s always been a deep-seated earnestness in his work: Consider the Frank Capra-esque ending of his mawkish (and underappreciated) [farce “Click”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZNC5emNyEQ) (2006). Now he carries the guilt of that choice in his every movement. When he has to carry the ransom to a hostage exchange, he grouses about the weight of the briefcase (then gets defensive about the size of his hands); moments after a murder, he bickers with his wife about appropriate before-bed snack portions. This exchange is typical of the couple’s banter, which ranges in the films from tender to acrimonious to protective, sometimes in the span of a single line. He’s drawing on his art-house gifts even in farcical contexts, and the result is some of the most rewarding work of his career. In the first film, Nick and his wife, Audrey (Jennifer Aniston), are celebrating their 15th anniversary with a long-overdue trip across Europe. As with the original, this sequel works because it remains grounded in the mundane rhythms of a longtime marriage. In films like “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” Sandler specialized in a kind of galvanic caricature of Gen X arrested development, oscillating wildly between boyish puppy-dog charm and explosive, bratty anger. In many ways this is much the same Sandler that we have seen onscreen since the early 1990s, as the star of often juvenile feature comedies and as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live”: an oversize man-baby in the throes of an antic tantrum. Roughed up by the guys he owes, he turns to his mistress, Julia (Julia Fox), for consolation.

Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler are two stars who manage to stand out in every film every frame, irrespective of how the film is.

Murder Mystery 2 ultimately seems loud, the writing is juvenile, and it takes away all the fun that Jennifer and Adam were even trying to bring to a drab script. The star couple, who has worked together in the past are known to be good friends off-screen and that translates well on screen. The main plot of the film seems predictable and jaded. This a moment for Nick and Audrey to shine as they take up the case and try to uncover the truth behind Vik's disappearance. Now that Aniston and Sandler are back with the much-anticipated second part of their whodunnit drama, the expectations are high, but will it meet the audience's expectations, as the first did? You will like them for their wit, charm, and the energy they bring to every film.

Murder Mystery 2 can't compete with Uncut Gems and Hustle or early comedies like Billy Madison and The Wedding Singer. But Sandler has come a long way from ...

Still, it’s ideal viewing for a plane or a hotel room, and not because it’s cheap-looking (it isn’t) or disposable (though it is that). But Sandler may be the first movie star to fully readjust his rhythms for the streaming era — and to sharpen his game at the same time. [Death on the Nile](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22929797/death-on-the-nile-review)-style murder on a yacht, and though they were initially suspected of committing that murder, they wound up cracking the case instead. There must be an audience that feels as positive about Just Go With It or Jack and Jill (and hey, that theater of the grotesque Is he putting more thought into his day job, emboldened by his work for directors like Noah Baumbach ( [The Meyerowitz Stories](https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/1/16829714/netflix-movies-independent-film-theater-amazon)) and the Safdie brothers ( [Uncut Gems](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2019/12/13/21020507/uncut-gems-review-adam-sandler-josh-benny-safdie-idina-menzel-kevin-garnett))? The couple’s bickering also becomes more agreeable in the thick of the action, as they argue about who’s better equipped to handle a gun. But Sandler’s Happy Madison work makes sense on a streaming channel, especially as his audience has shifted from bygone mall multiplexes to the coziness of their couches. Even though mercenary badass Miller (Mark Strong) has been called in to track down the kidnappers, Nick and Audrey are emboldened by their previous mystery-solving, so they attempt to help with the new case, which eventually takes them to Paris. Tellingly, they don’t seem as impressed by any of the natural beauty on display as they are at the opulence of the wedding’s over-the-top gift bags. [Adam Sandler](https://www.polygon.com/23158653/hustle-review-adam-sandler-netflix-basketball) and [Jennifer Aniston](https://www.polygon.com/features/22680083/morning-show-season-2-watch-guide), can reasonably expect certain things, since the movie is one of Sandler’s many Happy Madison productions for the streaming service. Hopes that he might use his long-term deal with the streamer to get out of his 2010s-era rut were dashed when his 2015 movie The Ridiculous 6, a longtime dream-project Western, was just as slipshod and crudely conceived as the likes of 2013’s big-studio release Grown Ups 2. [2022’s Hustle](https://www.polygon.com/23158653/hustle-review-adam-sandler-netflix-basketball) is a grounded sports dramedy with barely any shtick.

Adam Sandler discusses the process of getting Bob Barker to appear in his 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.

Despite the two always "fighting," Sandler did confirm to Weintraub that they "get along now." After the actor provides some context of what is happening in the scene shown on the shirt, he is asked if he remembers the process that went into Barker's casting, to which Sandler explained that the role was originally written for someone else: fellow longtime TV host and announcer Ed McMahon. During the interview, Weintraub brings up the shirt that he is wearing, which depicts a photo of Barker's face from the scene in Happy Gilmore where he and Gilmore get into a fight.

Movie Review: In Netflix's Murder Mystery 2, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston return as Nick and Audrey Spitz. It's no Knives Out 2, but it's still fun.

Director Jeremy Garelick, who brings a visual elegance to the movie that the first one sorely lacked, seems to have an eye for physical comedy and a real sense of pace. I found myself laughing out loud at many of its dumb little gags, such as Nick’s obsession with a particular kind of cheese served at the wedding (“The cheese has a hold on me!”), one character’s constant references to his sexual prowess, and some grisly fun with an ax stuck in a random goon’s head. As does the pleasant spectacle of movie stars simply being movie stars. And by all indications, Murder Mystery 2 appears to be another one of the star-producer’s efforts to take himself and his pals on vacation on a studio’s dime. Given the half-hearted, point-the-camera-and-shoot nature of the first Murder Mystery, it would be fair to expect very little from its follow-up. Murder Mystery 2, Netflix’s sequel to the utterly disposable 2019 Adam Sandler–Jennifer Aniston comedy Murder Mystery, a film about as inventive as its title, doesn’t look promising at all.