#140RVW
Wish Sandler would knock off the crude stuff; he’s funny enough without it & it nearly kills good stories like this one. Real mixed bag…
What’s more:
Adam Sandler movies – you have a pretty good idea what you’re going to get. Most people have decided by now if these appeal or not. The only surprise in these is whether or not they are successful at what he sets out to do.
I personally have a difficult time with his stuff; he’s unquestionably a very funny and talented comic. But with all comics I have a requirement that the straight funny outweighs the stupid funny. I love stupid funny; it just can’t be all you’ve got.The bigger problem, though, is that he’s just crude. I have such a low threshold for scatalogical comedy. With care it can be a great irreverent lightning bolt. Overdone it’s just stupid and off-putting.
With this movie, he’s demonstrating this problem. By this point in his career, he had shown that he could stretch into meatier stuff. He’s proven his ability to go for emotion, but it seems he feels he needs to include crude humor in order to either satisfy a perceived requirement of his fan base, or perhaps he simply just likes doing this crap. Either way, it’s disappointing, because this could have been quite a good movie.
You know, Jerry Lewis once advised Jim Carrey to keep the comedy clean; be as zany as you want, but be careful not to turn people off. Sandler could have used a mentor…
This was written by Steve Koren & Mark O’Keefe, tv writers who scored big a few years earlier with Bruce Almighty. In that film, they took a zany comic and used a supernatural twist to make him realize what’s really important. Well, if it worked once…
Despite being derivative of that film and having strong Capra-esque overtones, the premise of Click is rock solid. The execution may be clumsy and obvious at times, but it is a good story. In other hands it may have been better handled.
Through it all, I really like this movie, and often have a hard time explaining why. I can’t defend the fat jokes and the fart jokes and the Rob Schneider cameo and all the usual Sandler hallmarks. I can and will stick up for Kate Beckinsale doing great understated stuff, Walken being Walken, and a wonderful appearance by Henry Winkler. Most of the effects are great, the Hoff is in the haus, and there is a magnificent swing style version of The Cranberries “Linger”, sung by Dolores O’Riordan that slays me.
Here’s the main thing, though; this is a story about a good guy named Michael trying to do right by his family and really struggling with the work/life balance. At the time when it came out, it hit a nerve with me – it was a little close to home. So that’s why it gets a lot of leash from me. Feel no obligation to follow my lead…
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
FAIL
