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The Ridiculous 6

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The Ridiculous 6
Film poster
Directed byFrank Coraci
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDean Semler
Edited byTom Costain
Music by
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • December 1, 2015 (2015-12-01) (Los Angeles premiere)
  • December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11) (Worldwide)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[1]

The Ridiculous 6 is a 2015 American Western comedy film directed by Frank Coraci and written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler. It stars Sandler, Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider, and Luke Wilson. The film was released worldwide on Netflix on December 11, 2015.

Plot

In the Old West era, a calm man named Tommy Stockburn (Sandler) is raised by Native Americans, where he is named "White Knife", due to his tendency to use knives. He is due to marry a Native girl named Smoking Fox (Jones). He has a run-in with a gang of bandits with eye patches on their right eyes, led by Will Patch (Forte), and manages to outsmart them and a deranged, Native American-racist food proprietor named Clem (Zahn), whose left eye is badly dysfunctional. At his Native village a bank robber named Frank Stockburn (Nolte) comes by, claiming to be Tommy's biological father. Tommy explains to Frank that his mother was shot by a silhouetted man with tattoos on his hand when she was escorting him to school during his childhood, something that has haunted his dreams since. Frank also tells Tommy that he is dying of consumption, but that he has amassed $50,000 and buried it in a meadow next to a pine tree, which he offers to Tommy and the Natives. The next day, a group of bandits with connections to Frank come to the village, led by the ruthless Cicero (Trejo) who want Frank to give them his "big score" he gained a while back. Frank has the bandits kidnap him so he can lead them to the $50,000 at the so called "Singing Windmill" at Jawbone Fall, in return for the bandits not attacking Tommy or the Indians. With no time to search the meadow and find the money, Tommy decides he must find another way to obtain it and save his father.

Tommy sets out on his quest to regain his father and decides that the best way to gain enough money is by stealing it. However, because his tribe does not condone theft and claims it is dishonorable, Tommy instead opts to steal from those who have no honor, leading him to target corrupt politicians, racist bankers, and thugs alike. During his quest, Tommy discovers that he has 5 half-brothers; Mexican burro rider Ramon (Schneider), whose innkeeper mother Frank had a fling with; mentally challenged yet happy-go-lucky Lil' Pete (Lautner), who has a strong neck that makes him immune to hanging; feral mountain-man Herm (Garcia), who speaks incomprehensibly; guilt-ridden drunkard Danny (Wilson), who served as a bodyguard for Abraham Lincoln until accidentally leading John Wilkes Booth to murder him; and African-American saloon pianist Chico (Crews), who confesses to be only 50 percent white; all of which join Tommy. Meanwhile, Clem joins the eye patch gang in hopes of finding Tommy to take revenge on him after Clem removes his only functional eye (since the other eye patch wearers claim that removing the right eye is part of the gang's way) before they kidnap Tommy's fiancee, though she manages to escape them due to Clem's poor eyesight and heads out to find Frank. When meeting Chico and Danny, they run with Chico's boss: the aggressive, always smiling saloon owner Smiley Harris (Keitel), who was part of Frank's gang until Frank stole his cut of their biggest score and left him to die at the windmill. He owns a large golden nugget the brothers steal after Ramon, while riding his burro, accidentally decapitates Smiley with a shovel from behind just as he is about to shoot the brothers as revenge against Frank for his betrayal, though Ramon was only trying to knock him out.

While relaxing in a pond, Clem and the eye patch gang show up and while the brothers manage to overpower them, the gang manage to steal the money the brothers stole. Hope isn't lost for the brothers, as Herm (through Tommy's translation) tells them that a gambler named Ezekiel Grant (Lovitz) is hosting a gambling game with Mark Twain (Ice) and General George Armstrong Custer (Spade) in Yuma. After successfully robbing the poker game, they head out to ransom their father. As dusk falls, Tommy realizes (through a photograph carried by Danny) that it was Cicero who murdered his mother. Not wanting to put his brothers in harm's way, Tommy sets out alone in the cover of night to rescue his father and confront his mother's killer. After paying the ransom, Cicero decides to part ways but Tommy insists on getting his revenge. Having successfully killed Cicero, the half-brothers (who followed Tommy) have a reunion with their long lost father. Realizing that Tommy's group now have $100,000 after rescuing the Left-Eye Gang and getting their original $50,000, Frank double crosses them, revealing that he was in cahoots with Cicero for an easy $50,000. Tommy then reveals that their group also has a Plan B: a hidden bomb inside the bag containing the ransom money. When the bomb explodes and commotion ensues, Frank runs off with Smoking Fox (whom his group has been holding hostage) inside a mine. Tommy runs after them and successfully rescues his bride-to-be and captures his father. Also, in the process of the fighting, the Left-Eye Gang accidentally reveal that they lied about removing their right eyes, much to Clem's outrage.

Back in the Native Village, Tommy weds Smoking Fox with his brothers in attendance. Since the revelation that their biological father Frank Stockburn was no more than a two-bit crook, the Native chief decides to adopt the half-brothers as he did with Tommy.

Cast

Production

Prior to Netflix picking up the film, the film had been in the works and dropped by three studios, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros..[2][7] The latter dropped out soon after Adam Sandler and Happy Madison Productions signed a four picture deal with Netflix, although an insider noted to The Hollywood Reporter that the deal had nothing to do with their decision.[7]

By January 2015, Netflix picked up the film with others joining the cast including Taylor Lautner, Nick Nolte, Blake Shelton, Steve Buscemi, Rob Schneider, Will Forte, Vanilla Ice, and Luke Wilson.[2] On February 16, 2015, Jorge Garcia joined the cast.[2] Principal photography began on February 20, 2015, and ended on May 2, 2015.[8][3]

Controversy

On April 23, 2015, Indian Country Today Media Network reported that approximately "a dozen Native actors and actresses, as well as the Native cultural advisor, left the set of Adam Sandler’s newest film production, The Ridiculous Six" in protest of its portrayal of the Apache culture.[9] The New York Daily News later reported that there were only four who left, out of over 100 Native American actors on the set.[10] Navajo Nation tribal members Loren Anthony and film student Allison Young said they left because they felt the film portrayed Native Americans in a negative light and took satire too far. They also complained that the portrayal of women was degrading.[11][12] A representative of Netflix responded saying, "The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous. It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of—but in on—the joke."[13]

On May 4, the New York Daily News reported that Ricky Lee, one of the Native American actors on the Ridiculous Six set, said previous news reports were exaggerated and indeed there were only "four actors who left, but there were 150 extras, including grandmas and grandpas and children, who kept working." Apparently, before the film's wrap party, he and several other actors were approached by Sandler to speak about the controversy. According to the actor, those who left raised legitimate issues but it was "the wrong battlefield."[10]

Release

The film premiered on Netflix on December 11, 2015.[14] On January 6, 2016, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed more times in 30 days than any other movie in Netflix history. It also made it to the #1 spot in every territory in which Netflix operates.[15]

Critical response

The film currently holds a rare 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 2.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Every bit as lazily offensive as its cast and concept would suggest, The Ridiculous Six is standard couch fare for Adam Sandler fanatics and must-avoid viewing for film enthusiasts of every other persuasion."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 18 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[17]

References

  1. ^ Fritz, Ben (Oct 18, 2015). "Netflix Is Making Movies Shunned by Studios". WSJ.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Jeff Sneider (2015-01-26). "Adam Sandler's First Netflix Movie 'Ridiculous 6' Casts Taylor Lautner, Blake Shelton, More (Exclusive)". Thewrap.com. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  3. ^ a b Jeff Sneider (2015-02-16). "'Lost' Alum Jorge Garcia Joins Adam Sandler, Taylor Lautner in Netflix's 'Ridiculous 6'". Thewrap.com. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  4. ^ "Rob Schneider on Twitter: "Me and the great Harvey Keitel and my burro Peanut filming tonight on "The Ridiculous Six!"". Twitter.com. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  5. ^ "Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  6. ^ "8x Ms. Olympia Lenda Murray in Adam Sandler's New Movie". Hardbody - Female Sports, Health & Fitness News. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (2014-10-07). "Warner Bros. No Longer in Talks to Make Adam Sandler's 'The Ridiculous Six' (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  8. ^ "'Ridiculous Six', starring Adam Sandler and Taylor Lautner, filming in Santa Fe". On Location Vacations. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  9. ^ Schilling, Vincent (2015-04-23). "Native Actors Walk off Set of Adam Sandler Movie After Insults to Women, Elders". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
  10. ^ a b Sacks, Ethan (2015-05-04). "EXCLUSIVE: Native American actor defends Adam Sandler amid 'The Ridiculous 6' controversy". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
  11. ^ "Adam Sandler film The Ridiculous Six in racism row as Native Americans quit set". The Guardian. 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  12. ^ Krishnadev Calamur (2015-04-23). "Native American actors walk off set of Adam Sandler movie". NPR. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  13. ^ Bradley, Laura. "Adam Sandler is awful, and it's all our fault". Slate. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike (2015-04-14). "Netflix Dates First Feature Film Slate: Elba, Fukunaga, Sandler, Pee-wee & More". Deadline. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  15. ^ Margaret Lenker (2016-01-06). "Adam Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six' Is Making History for Netflix". Variety. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  16. ^ "The Ridiculous Six (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  17. ^ "The Ridiculous Six reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
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