Could have used a lot less sugar and cheese

Rating: 5/10 (9 August 2006)

I'm not exactly a fan of Adam Sandler. I've first seen him in "Waterboy" more than eight years ago when I was in high school, and he just weirded me out so much, although I must admit his nonsensical low-brow movies do elicit chuckles here and there when I'm caught off-guard. "Click" is no exception, as it has several funny moments involving a remote control that controls EVERYTHING that has to do with him.
Michael Newman (Sandler) is an architect who is so concerned about getting a promotion from his boss (David Hasselhoff) that he has taken his family for granted (yep, it takes a lot of swallowing how one can take for granted a wife that looks like Kate Beckinsale). After a stressful day that was capped by a trouble finding the remote for the TV, he heads to Bed Bath & Beyond to find a universal remote control that he thinks would simplify his already complicated life. He meets Morty (Christopher Walken) who gives him a literal universal remote control that can rewind, fast-forward, pause, skip a chapter of his life, change his skin's hue, modify an aspect ratio of his boss, change the audio language... whatever.
And for the first hour or so, it is indeed a wonderful life with a heavy dose of trademark Sandler humor. It's here where the movie is the most fun, with Micahel making a punching bag out of his boss, impressing his wife by vividly recalling the details of their first kiss, and going back to the time he was born (even literally going in his mother's womb... ugh). Sandler's dopey-faced and self-depreciating humor work very well when the script lets it.
Unfortunately, it all comes undone when the inevitable comes to pass with Michael realizing that having total control with one's life isn't as appealing as it might sound. This is the part where it seems unsure of itself. Director Frank Coraci and screenwriters Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe concocts a saccharine second act that's all too cloying and hokey. The resolution has Michael undergo a character transformation that lets him realize how much he's missing his family, which - while maybe a noble intention - disentangles all the credits out of the proceedings. Suddenly it feels as if we are seeing an Ashton Kutcher cautionary sci-fi rather than an Adam Sandler comedy, and the film runs off-course.
Particularly I didn't like the final act that employs a deus ex machina, which obviously seems to make the ending more acceptable and that the main character has still all the time in the world to make up to his parents, his wife and his kids. But what it really suggests is that the writers didn't believe the audience would get the story's morals and instead spoon-feeds us with the basic lessons. At one point, I hoped the film would tackle the deeper implications of its premise but that probably wouldn't appeal to its target crowd. Then at least they could've gone for all-out fun.
As for Walken, he has some appearances as the weird guy who gave Michael the remote, but most are unimpressive. Beckinsale is heavily underused but Morty's right: she sure does look hot.
"Click" often seems unaware of whether it's an Adam Sandler comedy or a morality play. The comedy works out fine but the moral angle just doesn't. A large part of it is derived from simplistic problems with simplistic solutions and when the film gets down to it, that's where it's least successful.