The Role: The part of Max, the taxi driver taken hostage by a ruthless assassin as he does his rounds, was originally conceived with Sandler in mind, while he was still written to be a Jewish New Yorker (and Russell Crowe was at one point planned to star opposite him as Vincent). Director Michael Mann ultimately opted to go in another direction, picking Jamie Foxx (with whom he previously worked on Ali) to take the radically overhauled part, while Sandler went on to score two solid hits that same year with 50 First Dates and The Longest Yard. Why He Would've Ruined The Movie: The Cruise-Sandler pairing is just too weird to comprehend for starters, and then there's the fact that Sandler's not really suited to spending the overwhelming majority of a movie sat down talking. He thrives at being able to let loose his comedic energy, and this one may simply have been too sedate and required too much restraint for him to handle. Jamie Foxx ended up with a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work, and even putting prejudices aside, it's not exactly easy to imagine Sandler pulling off a performance as strong. At best, he doesn't get the Oscar nod, and at worst, his mugging sinks the film completely. Which movie are you most glad Adam Sandler didn't end up in? Shout it out in the comments!
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
