Movies Reviews

Movie Review: Click

By Anne Brodie Jun 23, 2006, 5:02 GMT

It’s an irresistible concept that we often toss around our minds. Acquiring something that allows us to control the environment and gain some kind of subsequent enrichment.

From Dr. Faustus to ‘Our Town’, we like to play with our destinies, acting in haste and repenting at leisure.
Control fantasies finds expression in the super hero comics and books and in characters that cheat death or disaster. However, there is always a catch.Always! No one gets out without paying.For Adam Sandler’s Michael Newman, his shot at cheating disaster comes through a universal remote control given to him by Morty (Christopher Walken) a peculiarly amusing scientists working in the “Way Beyond” section of Bed Bath and Beyond. To Michael, the remote looks like the answer to woes, the key to success, sanity and that promotion. His life is a mess, but perhaps now, he can straighten it up. He can finish his new design for his boss by turning the volume down on the family and the dog; he can fast forward through arguments with his wife and go directly to the makeup. He can fix things for his kids and beat up his boss with impunity. He can revisit the first date with his wife or turn the clock back to spend more time with his ageing parents. Fast forward, rewind, volume up, volume down. What a toy! The power is intoxicating.It’s an extremely high tech gizmo – it could even be magic. However, it starts overriding his choices and refuses to be thrown away. Now it’s out of Michael’s control and as powerful as ever.Like George Bailey, Emily Webb and Scrooge, Newman’s forced to re- examine his life from the new perspective of extra knowledge, a painful process that involves risking everything, far beyond finishing the project or getting along with his wife.This excruciating experience pretty much sends the film off in a new direction. Sandler often gives audiences more than they expect. He can be an hysterically funny comic actor. Even so, he has always delivered more than just comedy – he is sympathetic and sometimes profound. It’s an appealing package.So he reveals new and surprising elements of Michael’s soul, Way Beyond that guy living the ho-hum life. The remote lifts the curtain into a frightening future world that is beyond his comprehension. Okay, so there are many fart jokes, but they aren’t bad, as far as they go, and the dog incessantly humps the big stuffed duck. Jokes about sexual ineptitude are plentiful, so there is something for everyone. While there are mawkish bits, Sandler is able to carry them off easily.Kate Beckinsale as his wife is refreshingly ordinary, a caring but frustrated woman who deeply resents the amount of time and attention Michael gives his work at the expense of family. Walken – is Walken and that’s plenty, as he brings mischief and surreal but by now recognizable weirdness to his roles. It is a double role, here but no spoilers. Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner play Michael’s doting parents, who can’t understand his workaholism. They just love him and know they have done their best. Rob Schneider plays Arab Prince Habibu with plenty of ham and corn in a hilarious cameo. He’s not credited. ‘Click’ is entertaining and funny and all it should be, but be warned that after seeing months of trailers suggesting it’s a laugh riot from stem to stern, it turns out to be a funny think piece about death and dying.Opens wide USA June 23rd MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references

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reelcriticJul 4th, 2006 - 00:11:32

This a very thoughtful,funny and centered movie...i wasn't expecting anything but laughs.
I walked out of the theater with a big desire to hug my kids and do the yardwork my wife has been bothering me to do. (the stuffed duck scenes were the only real stupid addition..,who ever decided not to edit those scenes out cost adam sandler summer blockbuster status. )

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reelcriticJul 4th, 2006 - 00:11:32

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Movie Review: Click

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Christopher Walken - View Christopher Walken Pictures - Christopher Walken News

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