10 Movie Performances That Proved People Wrong

Up until the year 2002, Adam Sandler was widely known for being the go-to guy when you needed a quirky face to fill a loveable, goofy, or just plain wise-ass leading role in a crowd-pleasing comedy flick.

Though he undoubtedly had his own dedicated audience around this time, Sandler's schtick clearly wasn't for everyone. Yet, even those who weren't fully onboard couldn't help but praise the star's unexpected brilliance in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love.

In particular, famed movie critic Roger Ebert was rather taken aback by Sandler's dramatic coming out party, going on record to state that "Sandler, liberated from the constraints of formula, reveals unexpected depths as an actor."

Sure, he may have dived straight back into making largely paint-by-numbers comedies after this, with only Funny People, The Meyerowitz Stories and Uncut Gems really furthering the potential he showed nearly two decades ago. But, for a moment, it really did seem as though Sandler was set to forge a new path for himself as a star capable of consistently holding his own in the more dramatic part of Hollywood, putting to bed all talk of him being just a one-trick comedic pony.