Great performance by Sandler, apart from ONE scene

I think it wasn't suppose to be that powerful of a talk considering he had already done this prior when talking about them with johnson.

Goonies Never Say Die.

Completely contrary, I thought that scene was one of the best monologues in the film.

I agree. Adam Sandler did a good job through most of the movie, but he really bombed most of that scene. This is actually an apt segue to the third act, which was considerably weaker than the rest of the movie.

I am Jack's IMDb post.

I sobbed during the entire scene. Think his performance was right on.

the scene where he firsts tells cheadle about his family is my favorite scene in the entire movie. Maybe because i can relate to the difficulty of talking about trauma, but i can just think about this scene and that makes me go all teary

You actually might have a point to get it like that, but to my opinion, at least I wanted to get it like that, after a long time of closing himself to other people around who have been trying to help him and of trying to forget about everything, it was the very first moment he felt like he can put his pain into words. and he was obviously not capable of it before, he was always busy with playing games and everything, suppressed his feelings throughout the movie... so him getting not that emotional at his first attempt to explain everything might be on purpose rather than being a scene lacking in emotion. it is actually very strange to start to talk about your agony if you tried hard to pretend like it has never happened..
and between that scene and the courtscene there is a difference, in terms of emotionally I mean. that might refer to his developement on expressing what he feels. he is actually very emotional on that court scene and he lives it, he makes you live it. I think, there he knows what he feels and how to show it.

Wow.. wasn't expecting you to say that scene. That scene is what made the movie for me. It was an unbelievably well acted speech. I felt his pain in my chest when I saw it the first time. When he whimpers out, "I could feel them burn..", I lost it. Not sure what you were watching...

Absolutely agree. He can't do the emotional stuff. He is great at being goofy and quirky, but a serious actor? Nope.
I can't help but think how much better still this movie could have been with a real actor. He sounds like some cartoon character...

Donald Sutherland, on the other hand, blew me away, in spite of how little a role (in terms of screen time) he has: Upon opening his mouth, he spews authority completely effortlessly. Of course he has the age, the experience and the face to be playing a judge, but still: Effortlessly. That's the point.
Sandler really has to put work into the serious stuff, and it shows.

Still, Adam's effort is admirable and one of his best roles yet.