Some folks can't accept that Adam Sandler is a grownup. They still see him as the goofball spewing gibberish on "Saturday Night Live" or the hothead screaming obscenities at Bob Barker in "Happy Gilmore." They ignore the 56-year-old actor/producer's diverse output in recent years, including serious dramas ("Uncut Gems"), children's fare ("Hotel Transylvania 3"), romantic capers ("Murder Mystery") and uplifting sports flicks ("Hustle").
Not all his efforts are great. He's "earned" 37 Golden Raspberry Award nominations, the most of anyone other than Sylvester Stallone. His latest, "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah," which starts streaming Friday on Netflix, isn't going to earn him major pans or praise. But it's another example of his eclectic tastes and desire to expand his audience.
To do so in "Mitzvah," Sandler takes a back seat to his daughter Sunny Sandler. She plays a semi-spoiled teenager whose plans to become a woman are upended by childish behavior at her junior high. The movie also features Sandler's wife, Jackie, and their older daughter, Sadie.
There's not a lot of huge laughs (except when current "SNL" star Sarah Sherman pops in as a hip rabbi) but the undertone is as sweet as chocolate babka. Tweens not yet old enough to appreciate "Never Have I Ever" will be smitten. They may even become Sandler fans. That's cool. Just don't let them watch "The Ridiculous 6."
Also this week
'Explorer: Lost in the Arctic'
National Geographic writer/thrill seeker Mark Synnott follows in the path of British explorer John Franklin, whose 1845 expedition to the Northwest Passage remains shrouded in mystery. Synnott and his team don't get a lot of answers but the photography of the ice is so vivid that you may end up searching for a quilt. 9 p.m. Thursday, Nat Geo; on Hulu and Disney Plus Friday
'Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity'