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Little Nicky |
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When Satan decides not to yield control
of the family business, two of his three sons
plot an evil coup. It’s up to the devoted third
son, Nicky (born of a valley-girl angel who got
drunk at a heaven and hell mixer), to visit earth
and save the day.
There are at least 666 reasons for teens
to avoid Little Nicky. Twisted
sexual humor. Near nudity. Violence. Graphic
language. Marijuana use. Bathroom jokes. In
other words, it’s a typical Sandler comedy. But
this time he includes a dose of warped
theology.
Here, hell is a place of eternal torment
created by grandpa Lucifer with
punishments to match a
person’s antisocial acts. There’s no
"sin nature" to speak of. Bad
people go down. Good people go up
(self-sacrifice is an automatic ticket to
heaven).
Meanwhile, Satan is a sympathetic despot
too gracious to accept Dan Marino’s soul in
exchange for a Super Bowl victory. Only
Nicky’s devious brother Adrian reflects the
devil’s true character (1 Pet. 5:8). Watching a
group of 10-year-olds stumble out of a bar and
vomit on the sidewalk, Adrian gloats,
"When an adult goes to hell, that’s
terrific. But when a child goes to hell, well,
that’s why I got in this business."
The film trivializes God and mocks people
of faith, be they in pulpits, pews or on street
corners. As "good" demons battle
bad, Christians are marginalized fanatics,
hypocrites or vessels for demon possession.
A few lines reveal bits of spiritual truth
(Adrian thanks mortals for foolishly living as if
there’s no eternity), but aren’t worth all of the
indecent exposure. Little Nicky is
perverse. It’s also misleading in the way it
flirts with concepts of heaven while making fire
and brimstone seem cool.
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