Eight Crazy Nights

In December 2001 in the small fictional town of Dukesberry, New Hampshire, Davey Stone is a 33-year-old Jewish alcoholic troublemaker with a long criminal record whose antics have long earned him the community's animosity. Davey is arrested for refusing to pay his bill at Mr. Chang's Chinese restaurant, attempting to evade arrest ("Davey's Song"), stealing a snowmobile, and destroying festive ice sculptures in the process. At Davey's trial, Whitey Duvall, a 70-year-old volunteer referee from Davey's former basketball league, intervenes. At Whitey's suggestion, the judge sentences Davey to community service as a referee-in-training for Whitey's Youth Basketball League. Under the terms of the community service, if Davey commits a crime before his sentence is completed, he will serve 10 years in prison.

The next day, Davey's first game ends in disaster. After Davey causes disruptions and torments an obese player for his gynecomastia, Whitey suffers a grand mal seizure, and the game is abruptly halted, Davey forfeiting it to the opposing team for the sole purpose of making said obese player cry. Attempting to calm Davey down, Whitey takes him to the mall, where they meet Davey's childhood friend Jennifer Friedman and her son Benjamin. Whitey reminds Davey that he lost his chance with Jennifer 20 years earlier, but Davey secretly still has feelings for her.

As time progresses, Davey and Whitey's relationship becomes more strained. Whitey's various attempts to encourage Davey are met with humiliation and assault—including but not limited to Davey knocking Whitey into a porta-potty then spraying him with a hose when he climbs out, causing him to be frozen in defecation for several hours before a group of grazing reindeer licks him out. When Davey gets home ("Long Ago") his trailer is being burned down by a man who lost a basketball match to him earlier and was forced to chew on a jock strap. Davey runs into the burning trailer to rescue a Hanukkah card from his late parents, then watches the trailer burn down. Whitey opens his home to Davey, who reluctantly accepts; also living there is Whitey's diabetic fraternal twin sister Eleanore. The Duvall household has many complex rules, to which Whitey refers as technical fouls ("Technical Foul"). Davey seemingly overcomes them and starts to turn his life around.

But Davey's progress in reforming stops short when Whitey recalls what happened two decades ago: En route to one of Davey's basketball games, his parents were killed in a car accident when a truck skidded on black ice and swerved into them, and Davey learned of their deaths when the police showed up at the end of his game to inform him. Devastated by the loss of his loving parents and leaping from foster home to foster home, Davey spent the next 20 years numbing his pain with alcohol and petty crime. Uncomfortable with this reminder of his tragic, painful childhood, Davey loses his temper and insults both Whitey and Eleanore and Whitey kicks Davey out, much to Davey's relief.

Davey spends the rest of the day drinking, and that night he breaks into the closed mall. In his drunken stupor, he imagines the logos of various stores coming to life and confronting him about his inability to grieve for his parents, which they identify as the source of his alcoholism ("Intervention Song"). He finally opens his parents' Hanukkah card, which contains a heartfelt message praising him for being a good son, and two photos: one of a young Davey and Jennifer at one of their basketball games, and one with his late parents. Davey finally cries and comes to terms with his loss. Just then the police arrive to arrest him, but he escapes and boards a bus to New York City. En route, the bus is forced to stop when a single thumbtack in the road punctures all eight rear tires. Reminded of the Miracle of Hanukkah, Davey walks off the bus, intending to find Whitey and make amends with him.

Davey finds Whitey at the All-Star Banquet, an annual town celebration in which one member of the community is recognized for positive contributions to Dukesberry with the "Dukesberry All-Star Patch" which Whitey has wanted for 35 years. When Whitey is passed over for seemingly the final time, he decides to move to Florida and live the rest of his life in anonymity. Risking arrest, Davey enters the hall and informs everyone of Whitey's many selfless contributions to Dukesberry throughout his life. The ashamed townspeople acknowledge the error of their decision ("Bum Biddy"). Davey leads them to Whitey, who has gone to the mall with Eleanore to "speak to it" one more time. The townspeople thank Whitey for his service over the years and the Mayor officially grants him the Patch Award. All 34 previous recipients of the awards give theirs to Whitey. Davey and Jennifer reconcile and Whitey goes into a seizure, which he calls "the happiest seizure of my life!"

• Adam Sandler as Davey Stone/Whitey Duvall/Eleanore Duvall
• Jackie Titone as Jennifer Friedman.
  • Alison Krauss as her singing voice
• Austin Stout as Benjamin Friedman, Jennifer's excitable 11-year-old son.
• Rob Schneider as The Narrator/Mr. York, a Chinese restaurant waiter.
• Kevin Nealon as Mayor Dewey, the Mayor of Dukesberry.
• Norm Crosby as the Judge.
• Jon Lovitz as Tom Baltezor, a competitor in the All-Star Banquet for the patch and the initial winner of it. He notably had no left hand, having lost it in a childhood accident and having a hook in its place.

Store logos

• Dylan and Cole Sprouse as KB Toys soldiers
• Tyra Banks as Victoria's Secret gown
• Blake Clark as Radio Shack walkie-talkie
• Peter Dante as Foot Locker referee
• Ellen Albertini Dow as See's Candies box
• Kevin Farley as Panda Express panda
• Lari Friedman as The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf cup
• Tom Kenny as The Sharper Image chair
• Carl Weathers as GNC bottle

The film was animated by Anvil Studios, A. Film A/S, Bardel Entertainment, Goldenbell Animation, Marina Motion Animation, Spaff Animation, Tama Production, Time Lapse Pictures, Warner Bros. Animation, Y. R. Studio, and Yowza! Animation. It was the only animated film that Adam Sandler worked on until Hotel Transylvania in 2012, and remains the only traditionally-animated film to have his involvement.

Seth Kearsley revealed in an email to Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic) that certain elements of the movie that were notorious, specifically the feces-eating deer scene and even Whitey's voice (which was originally more higher-pitched and annoying), were intended to be cut, but were kept due to "focus groups" who had seen the film (who lowered Whitey's voice down), as well as the fact that the product placements were used without permission.[6]

Eight Crazy Nights was released November 4, 2003 on VHS and single- and two-disc edition DVD. The two-disc "special edition" features deleted scenes, several audio commentaries, and Sandler's short film "A Day with the Meatball", among other special features.[9] A Blu-ray version of the film was released on December 13, 2016.

Kids' Choice Awards, USA 2003

Razzie Awards 2003

The soundtrack of the film was released on November 27, 2002 by Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax.[10][11] The soundtrack contains every song in the film, including the new installment of "The Chanukah Song" and a deleted song, called "At the Mall", sung by Whitey as he strolls through the mall in an alternate opening, which is included in the DVD release.

• List of American films of 2002
• List of animated feature-length films

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