Back in 2008, I thought Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan looked like a comedic disaster of epic proportions. Instead, it turned out to be reasonably charming and entertaining. On the other hand, 2010’s Grown Ups promised to be lots of laughs, but it was one of the most painful cinematic experiences I can recall.

Since 2011’s Jack and Jill came with a trailer that prompted cringing and glum head shaking, I was curious to test this rule. Would it contrast its advertising and be a surprising winner like Zohan or would it live down to the promos?

Jack Sadelstein (Sandler) dreads his annual Thanksgiving visit from his overbearing, needy twin sister Jill (also Sandler). This becomes worse than usual when she extends her visit past its normal four days and threatens to stay with Jack and his family indefinitely.

Jack also experiences some professional pressure; he runs an ad agency and needs to land Al Pacino or he’ll lose the crucial Dunkin’ Donuts account. All of these pressures conspire to add massive tension to Jack’s life – and come together in unusual ways.

As I mentioned when I referred to Zohan, Sandler occasionally delivers a curveball and produces a film better than expected. Unfortunately, that doesn’t occur with the thoroughly atrocious Jack. One sequence assures that it doesn’t come utterly devoid of laughs: when we see finally see the Pacino Dunkin’ Donuts commercial, it’s hilariously terrible.

Unlike the rest of the film, though, it’s supposed to be bad. Perhaps Sandler intended Jack to be some form of performance art, a movie with no redeeming value to poke at the critics who claim his flicks have no redeeming value.

If so, bravo, Adam – you succeeded! But somehow I don’t think that’s the case. I’m pretty sure that Sandler and company labored under the misbegotten belief that this woeful collection of sight gags and nonsense would stand on its own and deliver actual mirth.

It doesn’t. It barely delivers any form of narrative, and character development remains nil. I won’t complain much about those flaws, however, as I don’t really expect them from a wacky comedy like this.

However, I would like something more than the cheap, lowest common denominator gags found here. We get our first fart joke less than three minutes into the movie, and the tone of the comedy never elevates above that level. One crummy bit follows another, with each just as unfunny as its siblings.

Do Sandler and his cohorts even bother to attempt anything clever? They seem to have this kind of flick down to a science: each one comes packed with crass gags, cameos from Sandler’s cronies and product placement.

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss: oh, the product placement you’ll see! I’m sure another movie has packed as much or more “integrated advertising” into its running time, but I can’t think of one. Barely a minute passes here without overt attempts to sell us something. Heck, an entire subplot in which the family goes on a cruise appears to exist solely to plug the franchise in question. I understand that product placement is a given in today’s media – and has been around forever – but Jack drops to shameful levels with its shilling.

As for the cameos, they also seem over the top and appear to exist due to the film’s general creative bankruptcy. Why bother to attempt cleverness when the audience will be just as delighted by the brief sight of various celebrities? I’m okay with the use of Sandler’s “stock company” – Allen Covert, Nick Swardson, Dan Patrick, David Spade, etc. – but the movie just ladles on so many other cameos that it gets tiresome.

By the way, how in the world did Sandler get Johnny Depp to appear? Maybe Depp’s kids like Sandler’s stuff and he did it for them. If so, he deserves some sort of Father of the Year award.

Though we should probably call Protective Services if Depp allows his kids to actually watch Jack and Jill. I’ve defended Sandler a lot over the years and still occasionally find him to be funny. Jack shows us his worst tendencies and ends up as a lamentable loser.

Jack and Jill appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie boasted a consistently strong presentation.

Sharpness always looked great. Even the widest shots demonstrated fine delineation, so don’t expect to see any signs of softness. The image lacked moiré effects or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to materialize. Print flaws also didn’t show up in this clean presentation.

Like most modern comedies, Jack opted for a palette with a mild golden tint. It still demonstrated a nice range of hues, and the material showed good reproduction. Blacks were dark and tight, and shadows looked clear and smooth. Everything here worked fine.

As for the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it went with pretty typical fare for a comedy. Material stayed atmospheric for the most part, as only minor expansion popped up occasionally, such as during the atmosphere at a Lakers game. The track remained subdued and didn’t provide a lot of pep, but it fit with the material.

Audio quality was fine. Music seemed full and vivid, and effects showed good replication; those elements demonstrated solid clarity and heft. Speech was always distinctive and concise. Again, this wasn’t a memorable soundtrack, but it suited the movie well enough.

A handful of extras pop up here. 13 Deleted Scenes fill a total of 19 minutes, seven seconds. Most of these provide extensions to existing sequences, though a few new bits pop up, such as a flashback to Jack/Jill’s birth and some added shots from the cruise. None of them are even vaguely amusing, though at least one better explains how Pacino got Jill to go on a drive with him.

Next comes a gag reel called Laughing Is Contagious. This runs three minutes, 44 seconds and shows the standard allotment of goofs and giggles. A few alternate lines pop up, but most of the compilation features the usual nonsense.

A few featurettes follow. Look Who Stopped By goes for eight minutes, 33 seconds and concentrates on the film’s endless cameos. We get remarks from actors Kevin Nealon, Allen Covert, Vince Offer, Billy Blanks, Bill Romanowski, Michael Irvin, Jared Fogle, Christie Brinkley, Dan Patrick, Adam Sandler, Drew Carey, Norm MacDonald, and David Spade. They mostly tell us how much fun they had on the set. A few alternate takes pop up and those give the program some spice, but it’s usually pretty forgettable.

With Boys Will Be Girls, we get a three-minute, 44 second reel with comments from Sandler, director Dennis Dugan, writer Steve Kogen, and actors Elodie Tougne, Rohan Chand, Eugenio Derbez and Katie Holmes. “Girls” looks at Sandler’s transformation into Jill as well as Derbez’s work as an old lady. It includes a few minor thoughts but is mostly comedic and superficial.

Stomach Ache lasts four minutes, 20 seconds and offers notes from Regis Philbin as he leads us through his day on the set; we also get short remarks from Dugan, Sandler and Dana Carvey. Philbin’s personality carries this one and makes it the most entertaining piece on the Blu-ray.

Finally, Don’t Call It a Boat fills two minutes, 34 seconds and provides info from Dugan, Holmes, Koren, cruise director Ken Rush and Captain Zini of the cruise line. They give us thoughts about filming on the vessel. This is nothing more than an ad disguised as a featurette.

The disc opens with ads for The Smurfs, Zookeeper, Grown Ups and The Mighty Macs. These also appear under Previews along with clips for Soul Surfer and Just Go With It. No trailer for Jack pops up here.

Will Jack and Jill go down as Adam Sandler’s worst film ever? Perhaps. There’s a lot of competition for that slot, but the consistently atrocious Jack deserves consideration. The Blu-ray delivers excellent visuals, good audio and a minor complement of supplements. The Blu-ray treats the film well, but it’s still an awful flick.