Jack and Jill

Directors: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino
Time Out rating:

Adam Sandler’s new comedy may be intensely mediocre, but that’s still a big step up from the intensely unwatchable comedies he’s produced recently. (See – or rather, don’t – Just Go with It, Zookeeper and Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.) Sandler plays both title characters: a struggling adman and the vulgar, oafish twin sister who becomes his unwanted houseguest. Admittedly, the film is merely a series of random celebrity cameos and shameless product placements. (In one case, both – thank you, Jared from Subway!) But there are a few moments of inspired absurdity, mostly provided by a surprisingly energetic Al Pacino, playing himself and channeling Some Like It Hot’s smitten millionaire Joe E. Brown, as he falls head over heels for Jill.

Jack and Jill opens at select cinemas nationwide on January 21