At some point, Adam Sandler achieved peak Jewish dad.
I’m not referring to back in May of 2006, when he and his wife, Jackie, welcomed their first baby, Sadie, and he literally became a father. I’m not even talking about a month later, when he went through a full-on dad crisis onscreen in the movie “Click.”
I’m talking about something less tangible, where the idea of Adam Sandler moved beyond the inappropriate comedian whose CD was snuck around the fifth grade Jewish summer camp cabin (just me?), past SNL darling and creator of the Hanukkah song, past rom-com hero and dramatic lead, to appearing on the cover of AARP talking about his hip surgery and literally being someone who, if he wasn’t Adam Sandler, you’d kind of shake your head good naturedly at and maybe say later “I’’m so sorry about my dad, he’s kind of stuck in his ways.”
Take this anecdote Sandler’s younger daughter, Sunny, shared on the press tour for her new movie “Don’t Say Good Luck,” now streaming (and receiving rave reviews) on Netflix.
“My mom tells this story from when I was younger,” Sunny tells Jimmy Fallon on an episode of The Tonight Show. “Me and my sister, we dressed up in his clothes — before that was popular and cool — the big shirts, the shorts. We held Diet Cokes and, like, yelled about the air conditioning being off.”
As if that wasn’t the perfect description of your friendly neighborhood Jewish dad, she goes on to deliver the piece de resistance. “And then we jumped in the pool with our socks on because he wears his socks in the pool because he can’t bend to take them off on land.”
Laughing, Jimmy Fallon asks if he then takes his socks off while floating in the pool, and Sunny confirms. “And then he’ll drain them and then you play catch with them.”
Stars! They’re just like us our dads.
We also have to mention the video and photos circulating of the Sandler family at the “Don’t Say Good Luck” premiere, where Adam — dressed in his formal attire, a flamingo printed polo shirt and Adidas track pants — holds an umbrella so Sunny, Sadie and Jackie can climb into their car without getting wet. The internet is calling it peak girl dad behavior, but we see peak Jewish dad behavior, too.
We love to poke fun at this type of Jewish dad (the corny jokes, the early airport arrival time, the questionable outfit choices), but the world’s acceptance of Adam Sandler and all of his quirks mirrors how we really feel about them: We couldn’t possibly quantify our love and respect.
As Adam Sandler’s daughters take on more roles and more press tours where they will inevitably be asked about their dad, we can’t wait to learn more about his specific Jewish dad-coded quirks. And if and when he has grandkids? We might not be able to handle it.
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