In the picture: The Wrong Missy

movie review

Netflix romantic comedy The Wrong Missy is an irredeemable mess

The Wrong Missy

Starring: David Spade, Lauren Lapkus, Nick Swardson, Geoff Pierson, Jackie Sandler, Sarah Chalke, Rob Schneider, Chris Witaske, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoai, and Molly Sims

Directed by: Tyler Spindel

Tagline: There’s no untexting her now.

Few companies seem as impervious to criticism as Happy Madison appears to be. Undeterred by the critical ravaging that its features have been receiving, Adam Sandler’s production outfit keeps churning out lacklustre comedies (often starring Sandler’s friends) that all end up being similar shades of awful. It isn’t exactly surprising then that the production company’s latest film, The Wrong Missy, is all kinds of, well, wrong. 

Yet another vehicle for Sandler’s family and friends, the Netflix comedy easily ranks among Happy Madison’s worst offerings.

The film stars a dull David Spade as Tim, a bank executive who is vying for a promotion, going up against his workplace competitor, Jess (Jackie Sandler, because nepotism). When his firm arranges a work retreat in Hawaii (an event that will also be attended by his ex-fiancée Julia, portrayed by Sarah Chalke), Tim plans to ask Melissa (Molly Sims), a beautiful woman he met at an airport, to join him on the vacation. But because of a texting mix-up, he ends up inadvertently inviting Missy (Lauren Lapkus), an unhinged woman with whom he once went on a terrible blind date. 

An uninspired string of grating hijinks thereby ensues. It’s all completely implausible, yet exhaustingly predictable, and painfully unfunny to boot. A significant problem – one of several, clearly – is Lapkus’s Missy. The character isn’t amusingly quirky; instead, she is thoroughly obnoxious. While Lapkus may otherwise be a skilled comedic actress, even her efforts can’t really do much to redeem her insufferable character. The issue, though, isn’t just the dated premise and cringe-worthy attempts at humour. Sure this is supposed to be a raunchy comedy, but the antics here range from uncomfortable and unpleasant to downright problematic. Flip the genders and you’d see these actions as absolutely unacceptable.

As for the aforementioned nepotism, Adam’s wife, Jackie, isn’t the only Sandler who has a role in the movie; the couple’s daughters, Sadie and Sunny, and nephew, Jared, also make appearances. Plus Sandler’s comrades Nick Swardson and Rob Schneider are also in the film for some reason.

At this point, we know better than to expect much from a Happy Madison production, but even by those standards, The Wrong Missy is still a disappointment. It’s sad to see everyone involved with this project wasting their (in some cases considerable) talent on such twaddle when they could (and should) be working on something better instead.

Rating: 0 out of 5

- By Sameen Amer

Instep, The News on Sunday - 28th June, 2020 *