Click

7/4/06 - Review

Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) has lost control of his life.  He has a hard nose boss (David Hasseloff) who keeps Michael working at all hours of the day, regardless of the plans he has with his family.  At home, his family is growing inpatient with him, as he is constantly blowing them off for his evil boss. Kate Beckinsale is somewhat understanding because he has been trying to get partner status for some time.

After getting fed up one night because he couldn’t turn on the TV, Michael heads out looking for a universal remote. At Bed, Bath, and Beyond, he runs into a crazy old man in the Beyond section called Morty (Christoher Walken). He gives Michael a universal remote that will control his entire life and help make it easy again. He can fast forward through time, pause, go back, and pretty much do anything a remote control can do. It starts to control his life though and he winds up a lonely old man with only a rewind button to see what he has missed at life.  He learned the hard way that family is the number one thing in life and he skipped it all for his career.

Adam Sandler has been one of the kings of comedies for years now with his off the wall jokes and wacky mannerisms. Though his films follow a familiar path, one can’t say that he doesn’t deliver at least some kind of entertainment value with his flicks.  The same can be said of his latest flick, though it has a  lot of dramatic elements that were not seen in any of the his previous flicks.

Click has comedy all around to satisfy the long time fans of Adam Sandler, so we know the movie isn’t lacking in that aspect. Like I said before, what caught my attention was the seriousness of the film though the last third.  It went from a goofy comedy to straight up tear jerker.  Though it is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s something we don’t think about when we hear Adam Sandler.   Some may even say that the movie kind of hits close to home where a family member’s life is controlled by work and they miss their child’s lives.  Yes, the movie is that grim.

As you can imagine, the story follows Sandler’s tried and true formula which does seem to be getting a bit old, but it still does work.  Having Adam Sandler in the lead role makes the film work.  The movie played long even though it was under 1 hour and 45 minutes.  The marketing of the movie hardly showed the seriousness of the film and I think after watching it, you are left feeling more depressed then having been entertained. That’s not a good way to spend a hot summer day.

Adam Sandler still has what it takes to get an audience laughing.  All of his antics are back in the this film but I am concerned that he might try to do some more serious flicks now and follow the Jim Carrey path.  To be honest, Carrey has not been the same since since his string of early successes followed by several serious dramas.  What can only hope that Sandler will continue to milk the comedy genre because he has a lot left in him.

The supporting cast what very good consisting of the very hot Kate Beckingsale, Henry Winkler, Sean Astin, and the charismatic Christopher Walken.  I would have liked to see more of Beckinsale because she was only there to supplement Adam Sandler.  Walken gets the bulk of the supporting cast’s time as the wacky Morty.  Though he turned out to be a angel of death, I still enjoyed seeing him in the role.

All in all, Click is a decent comedy that tried to bring a lot of drama and seriousness that it could have been without. It ended up hurting the movie a bit, but Adam Sandler and company helps to make the movie somewhat entertaining, even if you pout a few tears. 

Grade

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