This one is short. I really like pictures made by Adam Sandler (50 First Dates) and company, and I did appreciate the way this animated picture was put together in its independent manner. However, it does NOT live up to some of the more recent Happy Gilmore pictures like "Big Daddy" and "Anger Management." I'll try to forget "Little Nicky."

The picture does not work as a musical. Songs drag the picture down, even though there are a handful of laughs within the musical numbers. "Book" scenes aren't too bad, but still teeter on the brink of flat dumb.

The best part of watching this feature is the vocal performances from Sandler and a handful of his SNL alumni buddies like Rob Schneider (The Hot Chick), Kevin Nealon (Daddy Day Care) and John Lovitz (Rat Race). Sandler himself voices three main characters. He does such a good job with the character of Eleanore, I did a double take when I saw his name in the credits.

The story is the picture's greatest strength. There are some very cute and warm fuzzy moments, especially in dealing with Stone's (Sandler) inner motivations. However, those damn musical numbers have to keep popping up. Screw it. Rent it. It has a lot of good DVD extras, if you like seeing old SNL guys in the director's basement screwing around with each other during a recording session.

Definitely, rent it before buying it. I'm glad I saw this one, but it's not going into my DVD library by choice.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?