Adam Sandler isn’t slowing down. Fresh off Happy Gilmore 2 and Jay Kelly, the latter earning him a Golden Globe nomination, the 57-year-old is lining up another big swing for Netflix. This time, he’s bringing along an 88-year-old legend. Dustin Hoffman has joined Sandler in Time Out (via Nexus Point News), a remake of Laurent Cantet’s 2001 French drama L’Emploi du Temps.
If you’ve seen the original, you know it’s not a broad comedy. It follows Vincent, a man laid off from his job who pretends to head to the office every morning rather than admit the truth to his family. One lie turns into another. Soon he’s juggling scams just to keep up appearances. Sandler will play Vincent. Hoffman will reportedly play his father.
The two previously played father and son in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories in 2017. That film proved Sandler can handle quiet desperation just as well as golf clubs and outrageous accents. This reunion feels less like stunt casting and more like smart business.
Scott Cooper, who wrote and directed Hostiles and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, penned the script and will direct. Christian Bale was once attached to star when Cooper first developed the project, but Sandler ultimately stepped into the lead role. Veteran producer Jon Kilik is producing, and production is expected to begin in Vancouver next month with Netflix backing the film.
Hoffman’s résumé needs no polishing. He’s a two-time Academy Award winner for Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man, with five additional Oscar nominations. He’s picked up four Emmy nominations and two wins, plus twelve Golden Globe nominations with six wins. Go back to the 1970s and 1980s and you’ll find him shoulder to shoulder with Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino.
Time Out has the bones of a tense character study. With Sandler carrying the weight of deception and Hoffman playing the father who may or may not see through it, this could be one of Netflix’s more serious plays this year.
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