Click
Click is a crusty movie with a soft, gooey center.
DMR gives it a C.
I’ve come to expect certain things from an Adam Sandler movie. There will be some salty language, often including the “R-word.” There will be a strong female lead, although her part won’t always be well-drawn. There will be a number of coarse moments and jokes that go nowhere. The co-stars will often include likeable but unexpected actors from a bygone era, sorta like the average Love Boat episode. There will be several angry, confrontational scenes. Rob Schneider will make a ridiculous appearance. And no matter how crusty the movie tries to be on the outside, there will be a soft, gooey center.
Click, roughly a retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” has all those Adam Sandler movie earmarks. It stars Sandler as overworked New York architect Michael Newman, who’s being pulled in so many directions that he feels like he’s disappointing everyone including his long-suffering wife (Kate Beckinsale) and kids, his boss (David Hasselhoff), and his under-appreciated parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner).
One stressful night Michael makes his way to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a universal remote. Behind a subtly-marked sign that says ‘Beyond,’ he finds Morty, played with devilish glee by Christopher Walken. Morty has a deal for Michael, a free ‘universal remote’ that controls more than Michael knows.
The script is by Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe, who also penned the similar Bruce Almighty. As they demonstrated I think better in that movie, you have to be careful about what you wish for. Power, fame, success, money, ambition, all those things that seem so seductive in the wee small hours, might just be a devil’s bargain. With the universal remote close at hand, Michael finds himself fast-forwarding through his life, unable, once he finally slows down, to remember the small pleasures and everyday events that make life truly rich.
Before he knows it he’s come to an early end of his life, materially successful, but bloated, and unhappily divorced. In a last desperate measure he tries to stop his son from fast-forwarding through his life, too.
Like I said, Click is a movie with a soft, gooey center. It’s a good movie that wants to be bad. So the question is, can you get past the crusty exterior? That’s no small trick. I can’t ever remember, for instance, a movie that showed a dog humping something so often. I pity the poor PA that had to audition the dogs for the role.
In terms of the performances, Sandler seems unable to bring the depth of emotion to Click that Jim Carrey brought to Bruce Almighty. Beckinsale is slumming as Newman’s wife Donna, and Hasselhoff is quite funny as Newman’s boss Ammer. Sean Astin, who appears onscreen several times in a red Speedo, is used mainly as a punchline. And Winkler and Kavner are solid as Newman’s mensch-like parents. A special shout-out goes to Jennifer Coolidge, a supporting actress who gets a lot of work and delivers again in Click.
Click is rated PG-13 for for "language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references." Believe me, it's a legitimate PG-13.
I give Click a grade of C.
The Dollar Movie Review Grading System: The Dollar Movie Review grades on a curve. Movies that make choices to be course or vulgar are downgraded a full to a half grade or more. Likewise, movies that don’t gross out or offend too much can be upgraded as ‘a thanks for trying’ attaboy. Click was downgraded a full grade. Without the swearing, and all the course stuff, especially with the dog, I would have given Click a B.
DMR gives it a C.
I’ve come to expect certain things from an Adam Sandler movie. There will be some salty language, often including the “R-word.” There will be a strong female lead, although her part won’t always be well-drawn. There will be a number of coarse moments and jokes that go nowhere. The co-stars will often include likeable but unexpected actors from a bygone era, sorta like the average Love Boat episode. There will be several angry, confrontational scenes. Rob Schneider will make a ridiculous appearance. And no matter how crusty the movie tries to be on the outside, there will be a soft, gooey center.
Click, roughly a retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” has all those Adam Sandler movie earmarks. It stars Sandler as overworked New York architect Michael Newman, who’s being pulled in so many directions that he feels like he’s disappointing everyone including his long-suffering wife (Kate Beckinsale) and kids, his boss (David Hasselhoff), and his under-appreciated parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner).
One stressful night Michael makes his way to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a universal remote. Behind a subtly-marked sign that says ‘Beyond,’ he finds Morty, played with devilish glee by Christopher Walken. Morty has a deal for Michael, a free ‘universal remote’ that controls more than Michael knows.
The script is by Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe, who also penned the similar Bruce Almighty. As they demonstrated I think better in that movie, you have to be careful about what you wish for. Power, fame, success, money, ambition, all those things that seem so seductive in the wee small hours, might just be a devil’s bargain. With the universal remote close at hand, Michael finds himself fast-forwarding through his life, unable, once he finally slows down, to remember the small pleasures and everyday events that make life truly rich.
Before he knows it he’s come to an early end of his life, materially successful, but bloated, and unhappily divorced. In a last desperate measure he tries to stop his son from fast-forwarding through his life, too.
Like I said, Click is a movie with a soft, gooey center. It’s a good movie that wants to be bad. So the question is, can you get past the crusty exterior? That’s no small trick. I can’t ever remember, for instance, a movie that showed a dog humping something so often. I pity the poor PA that had to audition the dogs for the role.
In terms of the performances, Sandler seems unable to bring the depth of emotion to Click that Jim Carrey brought to Bruce Almighty. Beckinsale is slumming as Newman’s wife Donna, and Hasselhoff is quite funny as Newman’s boss Ammer. Sean Astin, who appears onscreen several times in a red Speedo, is used mainly as a punchline. And Winkler and Kavner are solid as Newman’s mensch-like parents. A special shout-out goes to Jennifer Coolidge, a supporting actress who gets a lot of work and delivers again in Click.
Click is rated PG-13 for for "language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references." Believe me, it's a legitimate PG-13.
I give Click a grade of C.
The Dollar Movie Review Grading System: The Dollar Movie Review grades on a curve. Movies that make choices to be course or vulgar are downgraded a full to a half grade or more. Likewise, movies that don’t gross out or offend too much can be upgraded as ‘a thanks for trying’ attaboy. Click was downgraded a full grade. Without the swearing, and all the course stuff, especially with the dog, I would have given Click a B.
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