Adam Sandler packed the Arlington Theatre to the rafters to receive his Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) on Thursday evening.
Legendary film critic and scholar, Leonard Maltin, moderated the evening, his Parkinson’s (which he has discussed publicly) slowing his speech a little but not his passion or insight or the twinkle in his eye. It’s a testament to SBIFF and Executive Director Roger Durling’s loyalty that he continues to do it and, I expect, he will as long as he is able. He received a very warm round of applause from the audience.
Maltin opened by noting that he and Sandler shared three things: they went to NYU, they were both members of the Jewish faith, and married the right person the first time.
Sandler was affable and laughable throughout the evening and adjusted his manic persona to the interviewer’s pacing which alone showed his menchiness. Several times during the evening he mentioned he was a proud Jew and that his heritage was a big part of his identity.
Among the many charming anecdotes, he recounted that his brother put him up to doing an open-mike stand up night, he didn’t prepare, got zero laughs in his five minutes, but loved it anyway and thought, “next time, I’m going to write something down”.
Sandler studied with method acting guru, Lee Strassberg, in New York. As the time, everyone wanted to be Dustin Hoffman, so he delivered his lines in Hoffman’s signature mumbly whisper, but, rather than being drawn in, the students complained they just couldn’t hear him. He said he can’t cry on queue and doesn’t really cry in real life and marvels when his kids cry, exclaiming “how do they do that?” He said his family considers him 60% normal when he’s at home.
The evening proceeded with clips of his early, goofy comedies, which have found a new audience with younger kids. He spoke loving of Jerry Lewis. When he was grieving his grandfather’s death, he put on a Lewis movie and when asked by his family how he was, he said matter-of-factly, “I’m fine”, the film having taken him to another, happier realm.
Maltin observed that there is a dichotomy between his “filthy” stand up and his comedy for kids. His influences were Animal House and Caddy Shack and wanted to make the next generation of those types of films. But, he deliberately adjusted his style to serve his younger audience. Here’s a link to some of his racier stuff in case you want to see his other side.
Sandler has also developed a “serious actor” career with Uncut Gems being a breakout demonstration of his range. There was an expectation that he might be nominated for Best Actor this year for his role in Jay Kelly. He wasn’t.
Dustin Hoffman came out to present the award, praising Sandler for being “touching and relatable…he understands people… he’s enormously funny but what resonates is his humanity and his heart”.
Sandler’s acceptance speech was a killer 5 minutes of raucous comedy that had the crowd in full guffaw. Among the one-liners, he thanked his brother for masturbating next to him in the room they shared, stating “my first acting experience was pretending that wasn’t happening.” He was self-effacing thanking “the inventors of Ozempic, not now but soon…”.
He joked, maybe with an undercurrent of mock resentment, that he’s going to come back and crush it next time around “delivering the deepest, darkest Sandman next year in Grown Ups 3.” The audience left chuckling and happy.
The Modern Master Award was established in 1995. Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.
Past recipients include Academy Award-winning actors Angelina Jolie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr., Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, and Christopher Plummer, and acclaimed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, and Peter Jackson.
The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place February 4-14, 2026. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre and the new McHurley Film Center. Passes for the 2026 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
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