When Satan decides not to yield control of the family business, two of his three sons plot an evil coup. It’s up to the devoted third son, Nicky (born of a valley-girl angel who got drunk at a heaven and hell mixer), to visit earth and save the day.
There are at least 666 reasons for teens to avoid Little Nicky. Twisted sexual humor. Near nudity. Violence. Graphic language. Marijuana use. Bathroom jokes. In other words, it’s a typical Sandler comedy. But this time he includes a dose of warped theology.
Here, hell is a place of eternal torment created by grandpa Lucifer with punishments to match a person’s antisocial acts. There’s no “sin nature” to speak of. Bad people go down. Good people go up (self-sacrifice is an automatic ticket to heaven).
Meanwhile, Satan is a sympathetic despot too gracious to accept Dan Marino’s soul in exchange for a Super Bowl victory. Only Nicky’s devious brother Adrian reflects the devil’s true character (1 Pet. 5:8). Watching a group of 10-year-olds stumble out of a bar and vomit on the sidewalk, Adrian gloats, “When an adult goes to hell, that’s terrific. But when a child goes to hell, well, that’s why I got in this business.”
The film trivializes God and mocks people of faith, be they in pulpits, pews or on street corners. As “good” demons battle bad, Christians are marginalized fanatics, hypocrites or vessels for demon possession.
A few lines reveal bits of spiritual truth (Adrian thanks mortals for foolishly living as if there’s no eternity), but aren’t worth all of the indecent exposure. Little Nicky is perverse. It’s also misleading in the way it flirts with concepts of heaven while making fire and brimstone seem cool.
