What happens when Satan has three sons and only one of them is remotely qualified to take over the family business? Apparently, you get Little Nicky, a 2000 comedy that imagines Hell as a dysfunctional workplace where the boss has horns, the employees are demons, and the biggest problem is that the heir to the throne is too nice to torture anybody.
Adam Sandler stars as Nicky, the youngest son of Satan (Harvey Keitel), who has spent the last several thousand years preparing his children to inherit his kingdom. Unfortunately, his older brothers Adrian (Rhys Ifans) and Cassius (Tommy Lister Jr.) are power-hungry troublemakers who have decided they're tired of waiting. When Satan refuses to hand over control, the brothers escape to Earth, freezing the gates of Hell and threatening the balance between good and evil.
Nicky is sent to New York to bring them back, which sounds like a fairly straightforward assignment until you remember that he's never been particularly good at anything. His face is partially disfigured, his speech is unusual, and his idea of a good time involves hanging out with his talking dog. He's also completely unfamiliar with the human world, making his arrival in Manhattan an endless series of bizarre encounters.
Adam Sandler plays Nicky as an innocent, awkward character who is essentially the opposite of what you'd expect from the Devil's son. He's gentle, socially clueless, and more interested in making friends than spreading evil. Sandler's exaggerated voice and physical comedy are front and center, and whether you find them hilarious or irritating will probably determine how much you enjoy the movie.
Patricia Arquette plays Valerie, a woman Nicky meets in New York and quickly develops feelings for. Their relationship provides the romantic subplot, although the movie isn't particularly interested in slowing down for traditional romance. The supporting cast includes Rhys Ifans as the flamboyant Adrian, Tommy Lister Jr. as the intimidating Cassius, and Rodney Dangerfield as Lucifer's father. Harvey Keitel also looks like he's having a good time playing Satan, although it's difficult to imagine a more unusual addition to his filmography.
The celebrity appearances are practically a movie of their own. Quentin Tarantino, Jon Lovitz, Reese Witherspoon, Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon, and Ozzy Osbourne all show up in various roles. Ozzy's appearance is particularly memorable, delivering one of the film's most ridiculous moments. It also feels appropriate that the Prince of Darkness would make an appearance in a movie about Satan's family.
Director Steven Brill fills the movie with elaborate visual effects, gross-out jokes, and a steady stream of absurd situations. The humor is frequently juvenile, and the film has absolutely no interest in subtlety. There are jokes involving bodily functions, strange physical transformations, and enough demonic nonsense to make a religious studies professor consider early retirement.
The biggest problem is that Little Nicky never quite finds a consistent rhythm. Some sequences are genuinely funny, while others feel like extended sketches that exist simply because someone thought the idea sounded amusing. The plot is also fairly predictable, and the movie's mixture of fantasy, romance, and broad comedy doesn't always fit together smoothly.
Still, the film has a certain charm. Sandler's character is strangely likable, the supporting cast is loaded with recognizable faces, and the ridiculous premise gives the filmmakers plenty of opportunities to get creative.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Little Nicky is an uneven but entertaining Adam Sandler comedy that delivers plenty of bizarre humor and memorable celebrity appearances. It's not one of his strongest movies, and some of the jokes are painful, but there's enough ridiculous entertainment to make it worth revisiting if you enjoy his early-2000s work. It's also proof that even the Devil's family can have problems with their children. Parenting is apparently difficult in every dimension.
Adam Sandler stars as Nicky, the youngest son of Satan (Harvey Keitel), who has spent the last several thousand years preparing his children to inherit his kingdom. Unfortunately, his older brothers Adrian (Rhys Ifans) and Cassius (Tommy Lister Jr.) are power-hungry troublemakers who have decided they're tired of waiting. When Satan refuses to hand over control, the brothers escape to Earth, freezing the gates of Hell and threatening the balance between good and evil.
Nicky is sent to New York to bring them back, which sounds like a fairly straightforward assignment until you remember that he's never been particularly good at anything. His face is partially disfigured, his speech is unusual, and his idea of a good time involves hanging out with his talking dog. He's also completely unfamiliar with the human world, making his arrival in Manhattan an endless series of bizarre encounters.
Adam Sandler plays Nicky as an innocent, awkward character who is essentially the opposite of what you'd expect from the Devil's son. He's gentle, socially clueless, and more interested in making friends than spreading evil. Sandler's exaggerated voice and physical comedy are front and center, and whether you find them hilarious or irritating will probably determine how much you enjoy the movie.
Patricia Arquette plays Valerie, a woman Nicky meets in New York and quickly develops feelings for. Their relationship provides the romantic subplot, although the movie isn't particularly interested in slowing down for traditional romance. The supporting cast includes Rhys Ifans as the flamboyant Adrian, Tommy Lister Jr. as the intimidating Cassius, and Rodney Dangerfield as Lucifer's father. Harvey Keitel also looks like he's having a good time playing Satan, although it's difficult to imagine a more unusual addition to his filmography.
The celebrity appearances are practically a movie of their own. Quentin Tarantino, Jon Lovitz, Reese Witherspoon, Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon, and Ozzy Osbourne all show up in various roles. Ozzy's appearance is particularly memorable, delivering one of the film's most ridiculous moments. It also feels appropriate that the Prince of Darkness would make an appearance in a movie about Satan's family.
Director Steven Brill fills the movie with elaborate visual effects, gross-out jokes, and a steady stream of absurd situations. The humor is frequently juvenile, and the film has absolutely no interest in subtlety. There are jokes involving bodily functions, strange physical transformations, and enough demonic nonsense to make a religious studies professor consider early retirement.
The biggest problem is that Little Nicky never quite finds a consistent rhythm. Some sequences are genuinely funny, while others feel like extended sketches that exist simply because someone thought the idea sounded amusing. The plot is also fairly predictable, and the movie's mixture of fantasy, romance, and broad comedy doesn't always fit together smoothly.
Still, the film has a certain charm. Sandler's character is strangely likable, the supporting cast is loaded with recognizable faces, and the ridiculous premise gives the filmmakers plenty of opportunities to get creative.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Little Nicky is an uneven but entertaining Adam Sandler comedy that delivers plenty of bizarre humor and memorable celebrity appearances. It's not one of his strongest movies, and some of the jokes are painful, but there's enough ridiculous entertainment to make it worth revisiting if you enjoy his early-2000s work. It's also proof that even the Devil's family can have problems with their children. Parenting is apparently difficult in every dimension.
Review posted
November 10, 2026