This Adam
Sandler film begins as a silly comedy, ends as a sappy drama about a
workaholic, and completely wastes the good premise of having a remote control for real life.
Imagine you’re given a remote
control that can make your whole life like watching a video. You can fast
forward, rewind, freeze frame, or even watch the ballgame in a little window.
Imagine this for two hours and you will surely come up with something more fun
and more original that this movie. Michael (Adam Sandler) is the lucky recipient of such
a gadget (given to him by mad scientist Christopher Walken). The best use he can
think of is to make the dog quieter and give himself a tan. But mostly he uses
the fast-forward button to explore the overworked theme of the overworked dad.
(See the remakes of The Shaggy Dog, Cheaper by the Dozen
and Yours, Mine and Ours.)
Two of the writers on this film wrote Bruce
Almighty, another gimmick movie in which a man given great power learns
valuable lessons. That was a much funnier, cleverer movie than Click, so
perhaps the third writer, Sandler, is to blame. While the beginning concentrates
on silly stuff, such as a running gag about the dog humping a stuffed animal,
the last half exhibits Sandler’s tendency to gooey sentimentality, as Michael gets
to look at one version (the boring one) of his future. This was the rare movie
that I didn’t like right from the very beginning. What can you say about a
movie where David Hasselhoff gives the most entertaining performance? Granted,
I’m not a big fan of most Sandler films (unless you count Spanglish and Punch-Drunk
Love), but 50 First Dates was pretty good, and even The Longest
Yard remake had a few laughs. This effort, besides the tired or unfunny
gags, takes an excellent premise, sets it up weakly, and executes it poorly.
For example, why, when Michael fast-forwards through sex, does it seem quick to
his wife as well, when in no other case does the remote work that way? All in
all, Click just doesn’t, not remotely.
posted and slightly revised wording 8/14/13
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