Little Nicky (2000)
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The son of Satan must travel to Earth to stop his brothers from destroying the boundary between good and evil.
The story
With his 10,000-year reign coming to an end, Satan must decide which of his three sons will succeed him as ruler of Hell. Nicky, the kindest of the three, has a speech impediment and a disfigured jaw. When Satan decides to continue ruling, his devious brothers Adrian and Cassius travel to Earth to create a new Hell by possessing religious and political leaders in New York City. Too weak to stop them, Satan sends Nicky to Earth with a silver flask that traps whoever drinks from it. Nicky must navigate human life while attempting to capture his brothers.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Satan decides to remain the ruler of Hell, prompting his devious sons Adrian and Cassius to travel to Earth to create a new Hell by possessing leaders in New York City. They freeze the entrance to Hell, causing Satan to begin to disintegrate. Satan sends his kindest son, Nicky, to Earth with a silver flask to capture them. Nicky struggles with human life but befriends a possessed bulldog, Mr. Beefy, and falls in love with Valerie. He eventually tricks Cassius into the flask but fails to capture Adrian. After a series of events where Nicky is accused of mass murder and sacrifices himself to save Valerie, he wakes up in Heaven. His mother, an angel, gives him a mysterious orb to defeat Adrian. Nicky confronts Adrian in Central Park; after a battle involving Ozzy Osbourne, Adrian is defeated. Nicky eventually sacrifices himself again for Valerie, and the film ends one year later with Nicky and Valerie living in New York with a demonic infant son. A postscript reveals various fates for the characters, including the fate of the gatekeeper and the metalheads.
- First release year
- 2000
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Steven Brill
- Writers
- Tim Herlihy · writer; Adam Sandler · writer; Steven Brill · writer
- Cast and characters
- Adam Sandler · Nicky Schear; Patricia Arquette · Valerie Veran; Harvey Keitel · Satan Schear; Rhys Ifans · Adrian Schear; Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. · Cassius Schear; Allen Covert · Todd; Robert Smigel · Mr. Beefy; Peter Dante · Peter
- Genres
- dark fantasy comedy; action comedy; black comedy; romantic comedy
- Themes
- Good vs. Evil; Family Dynamics; Sacrifice
- Tone and mood
- Dark Fantasy; Comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- Demons; Angels; Satan; Comedy; Fantasy
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing $58 million against an $80–85 million budget. It received a Metacritic score of 38 out of 100, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A to F
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Picture · 21st · lost; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Actor · 21st · lost; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Supporting Actress · 21st · lost; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Director · 21st · lost; Golden Raspberry Awards · Worst Screenplay · 21st · lost; Stinkers Bad Movie Awards · Most Annoying Fake Accent · win
- Production trivia
- The film was a box office bomb, grossing $58 million against an $80–85 million budget.; The film features a scene where Ozzy Osbourne is summoned by Nicky to bite the head off of Adrian's bat form.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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