Adam Sandler Doesn't "Click" by Homer Yen (c) 2006
My opinions about Adam Sandler's films have always been lukewarm. Yet here's a genuinely funny guy who is a standout Saturday Night Live alumni. He appears to be an easy-going if somewhat coy kind of guy. He enjoys a good laugh. He wants to have a good time. So then, why is it that the audience isn't laughing with him in his new film? You can tell that the audience wants to support Sandler. They try to muster up a chuckle even though the bits are flat. But "Click" starts running out of batteries within the first few minutes of the film.
I think the big stumbling block is that the premise of the film doesn't lend itself to being a comedy. Possessing the awesome power (that is both a blessing and a curse) to fast-forward through parts of your life should lend itself to moments of introspection and not fart jokes. But Sandler found a way to turn a promising premise about lost opportunities into a film where each new chapter of his life gives him an excuse to be rude.
Our likeably egg-faced hero plays Michael, who is an underappreciated and overworked architect. He can't seem to land that big promotion. He can barely afford his lifestyle. He has no time for his family. The obedient but disgruntled wife (Kate Beckinsdale) can only put up with so much. Other than some miracle, his life could probably only be saved if he studiously read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and ventured into the world of network marketing.
Some Twilight-Zone type stuff is in store for him when he shops at the local Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Sure there are beds. And there are baths. But what's that stuff in the Beyond section? There, he finds Morty (the always-intriguing Christopher Walken) who is part shopkeeper of eccentricities, part mad-scientist, and part clerk who looks as if he has been playing with an electric fence a few too many times. He presents to Michael a state-of-the-art universal remote. It can mute sound, pause a scene, fast forward through a chapter, and...beyond!
There are some cheerful parts such as when the real comedian comes out of Sandler's character and he begins, for example, toying with the hue. And another bit of inspired casting is his boss, played by David Hasslehoff. Is it just me or do we all have the urge to punch him out? Don't get me wrong. He's perfect in this film in all his kitschy glory. Let's just say that he wouldn't be the right spokesman on the topic of sexual harassment in the workplace. His deer-in-the-headlights approach makes him the gem of this film.
The unfortunate thing is that the film just never really comes together. Michael begins fast-forwarding through his life to bypass the painful parts. But then he realizes too late that he's missing its inherent joys. Without any chance to revisit the past and to reshape it, the film feels out of synch and disjointed. And again, a film about missing the joys of life is not the DNA for a comedy. If this device did truly exist and you brought that with you to see this film, I'm certain that you'd hit fast forward on your remote to bypass the painful parts. But don't worry; there aren't any inherent joys that you'd miss. Click away.
Grade: C-
S: 0 out of 3 L: 0 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
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