So, another Adam Sandler film eh? As much as I try and hate the guy he's made as many good films as bad, and after a couple of recent stinkers he was due a good'un. From the looks of the trailer Click was going to be one of those seen-everything-funny-already movies which had a great premise but didn't really go anywhere with it, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. Though Sandler's role in the movie is fairly inconsequential (meaning it could have been anyone playing his character) the innate strength of this modern morality fairytale is such that it works despite his poor performance.
For anyone who has seen the trailer extrapolation is unnecessary, but for those who haven't the film revolves around workaholic architect Michael Newman, who might very well be living in the fifties, what with his 2 kids and homemaker wife. Losing what little patience he has messing around with the family's 15 remotes he snaps and flies off to look for a Universal Remote. Landing at Bed Bath & Beyond he enters the Beyond section (a joke already used in Family Guy, but whatever) and meets crackpot inventor Morty (Walken), who gives him the most advanced remote imaginable. When Michael gets home however he gets more than he bargained for: the remote controls EVERYTHING in his life.
For sheer crowd-pleasing stunts Click is in a world all of its own. Everyone knows what is coming; the mute button for loud dogs, the pause to help Michael think, the fast forward for him to skip arguments. All of these scenes land nicely without being too done to death (though yes, you'll probably have already seen them in the trailer), but it's when the movie takes a darker turn that things really start to get interesting. Without giving too much away the remote gains a mind of its own and, obviously, helps Michael see what he has been missing all of his life. The little things.
It's a good thing Click is such a solid idea though as Sandler's performance is pretty weak even by his standards. The man can act (Punch Drunk Love springs to mind) and he is funny at times, but his character in Click is meant to be a normal guy and that's something Sandler just can't pull off. If he's not being angry and insane, or weak and girly, then he's practically useless, and it's difficult not to think that the producers would have been better off casting someone else in his role. I guess that's star power these days, it just won't go away. The rest of the cast are also adequate, Beckinsale looks fantastic (which is surely her only role in life) and David Hasslehoff steals almost every scene he's in, but it is Henry Winkler who does best in Click, making the films signature weepy moment hit home particularly hard, and not seem like another excuse to giggle. |
