Hubie Halloween (2020) Review

 "Can I borrow your gun?  I assure you, you can arrest me right afterwards."
-Dave



Hubie Dubois (Adam Sandler) is the self-appointed Halloween safety monitor of Salem, Massachusetts, even though most of the town ridicules him for it.  This year is different, however.  With an missing insane asylum patient on the lose, a possible werewolf, and people going missing, Hubie has his work cut out for him this Halloween.


What Works:

I'm a sucker for a Halloween movie.  It's my favorite day of the year and I love the aesthetic.  A lot of Adam Sandler comedies are pretty cheap, but that's not the case here.  Hubie Halloween really feels like a Halloween movie.  There are some great costumes, music, and set design.  It puts you in the mood for spooky season and I'm all about it.

I'm not a fan of most of Sandler's recent comedies.  While there is some humor in Hubie Halloween that doesn't work, a good chunk of it does.  There are some legitimately funny moments from Sandler and the rest of the cast.  Hubie scares very easily and has over-the-top reactions whenever something startles him and it never failed to crack me up.

The best supporting cast member is, to no one's surprise, Steve Buscemi.  He has a one-liner near the end of the film that is the funniest moment in the entire film.  He's always great and elevates everything around him.

Finally, the culprit behind everything is a great twist and I truly did not see it coming.  I'm not going to give it away here, but it threw me for a loop, yet it (mostly) makes sense it hindsight.


What Sucks:

As I mentioned, not all of the humor works for me.  This film has plenty of fart jokes which just aren't my thing.  It's not as much as I expected going it, but it's still there.

There are also references to some of Sander's earlier films, like Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison.  I hate when his movies references these great films.  Quit reminding me of better movies and focus on making this one good!

There's a weird part in the film where most of the town, including Sgt. Steve Downey (Kevin James), thinks Hubie is behind the disappearances and he has to run for his life.  The next time we see Downey, it's like this never happened and he's working with Hubie to solve the case.  It doesn't make sense and it feels like a scene is missing.

Finally, the movie takes a while to get going.  The first half is mostly just people in town being mean to Hubie.  Some of it is funny, but some of it goes on too long.  The first half could have been trimmed down to get to Halloween more quickly.    


Verdict:

Hubie Halloween is a surprisingly fun film with a great aesthetic, some good humor, a solid twist, and a fun performance from Steve Buscemi.  Not all of the humor works, the references are annoying, it feels like a scene is missing at one point, and the first half is too long, but it's a decent Halloween movie.

 6/10: Okay 

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