Today,Little Sister and I went to our local multiplex and went our separate ways-she to Nacho Libre,me to Click. Jack Black is one of my favorites but Nacho looks too hokey for me,plus it was directed by Jared Hess of Napoleon Dynamite fame. Hess might be a good director but ND didn't impress me one bit.
Click stars Adam Sandler as Michael Newman,an overworked architect striving for a promotion from boss David Hasselhoff so much that he keeps putting his wife(played by Kate Beckinsale)and kids on hold. One night,Michael goes to a Bed,Bath and Beyond to buy an universal remote control(he drives right past a couple of electronic stores to get to BB&B,which makes as sense as the plot of Lake House does)and winds up with one that controls the world around him. Christopher Walken plays the All-Seeing Looney that movies like this get and warns Michael to be careful with his new found toy and that it's "nonreturnable."
Michael has fun at first,putting annoying people on mute and fast forwarding thru mundane things like showers,traffic and foreplay. Eventually,the fast fowarding gets out of hand and Michael soon discovers the mess he's making of his life. This is what I call a Sweet Slob movie;sort of a hybrid of two genres-the middle class morality tale and the goofy,vulgar humor that core fans know and love. Sandler's done this before with films like The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy,which were fun.
However,Click starts to drag at the dramatic parts(particularly later in the story)so cheap laughs from cheesy F/X and gross out jokes(a running gag that has a dog humping a large stuffed toy)are punched in to spark the plot up but it's short term relief at best. Poor Beckinsale is wasted here but does look the best out of the cast in old age make-up. Walken is ,well,Walken but even his wacky stylings seem to be on mute here.
When it comes to movies like this,Jim Carrey does it much better. Sandler's a likable guy but when it comes to drama,he doesn't seem to be able to pull it off. Towards the end of the movie,I felt like I was watching a dinner theatre version of
Mr. Saturday Night with Henry Winkler in very bad old age make-up(the younger versions of him and Julie Kavner don't look any better) Click wasn't horrible but it wasn't that great either. It should do well at the box office this weekend(the audience I saw it with loved it)but when it goes to cable,I'm going to just click right past it.
On the bright side,I saw the trailer for Talladega Nights:The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and it looks damn funny. Will Ferrell wasn't my favorite SNL actor at first but he's grown on me,especially after Anchorman. Click the title link to see for yourself. I defy anyone to resist a movie with kids named Walker and Texas Ranger,plus this may be one of best lines you'll hear onscreen this summer:"Help me,Tom Cruise-use your witchcraft to put the fire out!"
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