Click

March 5, 2007

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 98 min Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

In general I like Adam Sandler. When he’s doing his “Sandler-guy” type thing he’s pretty funny, but watching him attempt to cry on screen or do any type of emotional acting is just painful. There’s a lot of pain in Click.

Click Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is a an architect who’s a bit of a workaholic. When his boss (David Hasselhoff) asks Michael to go out for drinks after work instead of making it to his son’s swim meet, Michael says ok. So it’s no surprise that when asked to work over the 4th of July weekend Michael also has no problem canceling his family’s camping trip so he can get his project done. Michael’s wife (Kate Beckinsale) isn’t pleased with his work habits, but she puts up with him far more than a woman should (not male bashing here, but he’s a bit of a jerk about this work/life issue) and consoles the kids by arranging a sleep over instead.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned that Michael isn’t exactly a man’s man as he can’t even figure out which remote to use to turn on the TV. After a fit of stupidity when he flies a toy helicopter into his face when trying to turn on the set, he heads to the store to get himself a universal remote. It’s a holiday weekend and the only thing he finds open is a Bed Bath & Beyond. He eventually ends up in a back room where he meets Morty (Christopher Walken), who appears to be some sort of mad scientist. Michael asks Morty for some sort of universal remote to simplify his life and Morty has just the ticket. Skip ahead a few scenes and Michael has discovered that the remote works on his real life, not just on his electronics. Want the dog to be quiet, just point the remote at him and turn the volume down. Wanna skip traffic, just fast forward till you’re at the office. Don’t want to have foreplay with your wife before sex? Just fast forward till your done.

Now wait just a gosh darn minute! All movies ask the audience to suspend disbelief to one degree or another, but Click goes a bit too far. First we’re to believe that a guy doesn’t know the difference between the remote that opens the garage door and the one that turns on the TV. Then we’re to believe that there’s a mad scientist working the back of a Bed Bath & Beyond that has all kinds of cool futuristic gadgets. But to believe that ANY man would want to skip a makeout session with Kate Beckinsale?! Nope, that’s just asking too much.

What follows is a pretty predictable story where Michael skips part of his life he wishes he hadn’t and tries to fix things, then ends up learning from his mistakes. At this point the movie moves from being funny to being serious, and falls apart badly. It’s not that the story and conclusions weren’t well written, it’s that Adam Sandler in no way can convince the audience that he’s having an emotional breakthrough on screen. It comes off looking like a bad actor doing something way out of his range, and I don’t think Adam is that bad of an actor. Heck, I really liked Big Daddy!

Don’t waste your time with this one unless you’re desperate for a chick friendly movie, and even then you might want to look at little harder at the rental shelf.

Posted by John | Filed Under 2 Stars, Adam Sandler, Christopher Walken, Comedy, DVD, David Hasselhoff, Kate Beckinsale, PG-13, Sean Astin