Adam Sandler's Tragic True Life Story

Although it is not his first movie, nor is it his most successful, 1995's "Billy Madison" is often credited as launching Adam Sandler's monumental film career. The movie about a man-child forced to complete a gauntlet of grade school classes in order to secure his father's estate was the first film Sandler penned alongside longtime screenwriting partner Tim Herlihy. "Billy Madison" is considered a classic today, but at the time of its release, critics were not on board with Sandler's immature antics and obnoxious energy. Notably, Roger Ebert used the opportunity to hark on the actor's screen presence, comparing him to fingernails on a blackboard.

Sadly, Sandler was ill-prepared for the barrage of negative comments coming his way. "When 'Billy Madison' came out, me and my friend who wrote it, we were just like, 'Oh yeah, they're going to write about this in New York,'" Sandler said while promoting 2022's "Hustle" (via Deadline). "We read the first one and we were like, 'Oh my god, what happened? They hate us.' And then we were like, 'It must have been this paper,' but then 90% of the papers are going, 'This is garbage.'" Putting his personal reactions aside, Sandler opted to read fewer and fewer of the comments, launching lifelong hostilities toward critics and the media.