“I missed the whole Dragon Tales Era?”
Adam Sandler is one of those actors who has made a name for himself, on his ability to play different characters in the same way. Each one of his films is built to utilize his unique style in a way that maximizes audience reaction. It's a great skill that eludes may of today's top actors. In “Click,” Sandler puts a new twist on a classic tale that will probably “click” with moviegoers.
Writing a review for a movie like this is pointless. It wasn't made to win Oscars or anything close, it was made to make money. With Sandler in the lead role, that is almost a guarantee. Yes, he's had a few odd movies that bombed (and rightly so), but mostly he knows what audiences wanted to see and when they want to see it. Sandler is always one of two characters in his movies; a slacker who is pulled out of his comfort zone to get the girl/job/etc. or a blue collar guy with an insanely hot girlfriend who he ignores because of his jerk of a boss.
This is basically the ladder of the two mixed with the classic “what if I was never born?” scenario updated to the now more common “what if I could change the future?” scenario. Think Jim Carrey's “Bruce Almighty,” but with its own twist (one of which I guessed ten minutes in). Both share a common point but execute it in a different way. Here Sandler's character Michael Newman has a egotistical boss, played by David Hasselhoff and a beautiful wife played by Kate Beckinsale. His boss makes him work long hours which leads to him ignoring his wife and two young children. This is a position he's been in many times before, but this time he's aided (or hindered) by a “Life” remote control. With it, he can freeze time, mute the dog, re-live parts of his life and so forth, all of which he does. Of course something goes wrong and it makes Michael's life even more of a disaster than it was before.
That is actually also the point where the movie tailspins as well. He fast forwards past the “Dragon Tales” kiddie era to the “CSI” teenager era. Yeah at first it's funny to see Michael's reaction to the future and his now grown-up mid-riff bearing daughter dating or his equally grown up and now plump son, but after a while its overkill and actually depressing. Once the remote starts to memorize Michael's movements and act accordingly, things keep getting worse and worse and worse for him. This is a comedy, we don't want to see all of these sad things happen to Michael. Granted there is a comedic undertone to most of them and yes there is a happy ending but still the movie could have toned it down a bit.
Although it's actually interesting to note this development, because a lot of Sandler's work as of late has gotten a tad bit darker. “The Longest Yard” was a comedy, but had its dark moments. “Spanglish” was a drama with comedic elements and Sandler's next film “Empty City” has a 9/11 based storyline. Like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams, Sandler seems to want to prove he's not a one trick pony. He's not, we know he has range, how else could make a successful career out of playing the same characters over and over again? It seems like he is more willing to produce the type of films that made him a name and star ones that are slightly different. As an actor, that's his right, but the point is with all the crap being peddled to us in theatres, we like to have films where we can say, “finally a movie where I know what to expect.”
“Click” has a lot of those same elements as well. Sandler's friends show up in various roles, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The biggest example of which is Henry Winkler, who appears in his third Sandler flick. Things like that remind audiences why they like these type of movies. Winkler is not only a likable guy, but a funny and talented actor.
Right now, it's good to see familiar comedies in the theatres and during the summer is the perfect time to release them. Although it would be wise for Sandler to learn from his own character for once and not fast forward through the type of movies that America knows him for. The same can be said for a lot of other actors as well, but at least every now they pacify us and release a “Click” to counter a “Punch Drunk Love.” Yet when they do, it may be wise for us to hit the “pause” button and enjoy them while we have them, instead of wasting time reviewing them.
