Click

 Did Adam Sandler just make a "message" movie?

In Click, Sandler portrays his typical bumbling, good-natured hot-head, although this time, he's a little more grown up. A little. Sandler plays Michael Newman, an ambitious architect with a beautiful wife, two great kids, and a modest lifestyle. He wants more, but he doesn't want to endure the family hassles that often slow him down on his way to the top.

One frustrated night he runs out to get a universal remote for his TV, and in a movie full of situations requiring the suspension of disbelief, this quest for a remote is probably the hardest to believe. How could a savvy, thirty-something guy confuse a garage door opener with his TV remote? Pathetic.

But anyway, he runs into Bed, Bath and Beyond and meets the mysterious Morty (played to typical excess by Christopher Walken). Morty wants to help out a fellow "good guy," and so he gives him a very special "universal" remote.  

Sandler soon discovers that this remote has the power to control more than just his television--he can now view his life's menu and skip to all the events of his past (with a commentary track provided by James Earl Jones), and use the pause and fast-forward buttons to get through life's little annoyances.

When Sandler decides to skip the loads of work he's been handed by his boss (a fun characterization by David Hasselhoff), and fast-forward to when he makes partner, he must face certain consequences.

The trouble with Click is that Sandler just isn't that funny here. The actors surrounding him are well-cast and amusing (Henry Winkler as his dad, Julie Kavner as mom, Kate Beckinsale as his wife), but because Click isn't that funny and doesn't play as an authentic dramedy (see Sandler's attempt at sobbing)--it's a mild misfire.

However, you do start to care about the horrible mess Sandler has made of his life (although in parts, it resembles a weird version of the Back to the Future franchise). As a father with five young children, I also found myself heavily identifying with Sandler's motivations and regrets, and for me it was an expected, but nonetheless powerful message. In fact, I left the theater a little shaken, as I thought about how fast life can be, and how quickly a few small decisions can create a future you may not have planned.

Another thing you need to see here is the make-up--as Sandler ages, so do the other members of his family, and Winkler, Kavner, Beckinsale, and Sandler are all aged very convincingly, with Winkler and Kavner also portrayed in their twenties quite well. Grade: C+

Comments

[brian]

seriously, a C for click. I'd give it a B+. It's not on my top ten, but I am constantly amused by Sandler and I loved the drama. Just the right mix for me. Kind of like a dram-rom-medy

[johnvano]

Yeah... But a "C" doesn't mean I wasn't entertained, or challenged. It just lacked too many things to put it in the B-range. I need to reward my best students with Bs and As!

I have nothing against Sandler--"50 First Dates" is one of my favorite movies and so is "Anger Management." And to round out the Sandler top 5, I'd add: "Happy Gilmore," "Billy Madison," and "Spanglish" to the mentionables here.

Say, maybe there's a new post in this...

[paula]

What a nice wife you have that she lets you go out and watch movies without her!!

[johnvano]

upon further review, i have upgraded this movie from a "C"--to a "C+"... the change has been made after an audit of other C-level movies i've reviewed