An interesting plot and a few good laughs

Rating: Null/10 (12 October 2006)

Click has a pretty interesting central plot, although it also exhibits plenty of American film clichés. A workaholic husband and father (Adam Sandler) just can't manage to spend that crucial 'quality time' with his 'wonderful' family. Pressure from the egomaniac boss (the Hoff) forces him to devote most of his time to corporate brown nosing. Living on a diet of fast food and with little chance to unwind, Sandler's character is headed for disaster it seems. He then meets a kooky professor type (Christopher Walken) who gives him a 'universal remote' which promises to make life easier. As Sandler begins to explore the capabilities of this device, he finds that he can pause life, fast forward and even go back in time to revisit his 'greatest hits' so to speak. Initially, it all seems to work so well: he can spend more time at home, whilst easily managing his work. Yet things begin to unravel: the remote memorises his commands, so when one night he can't be bothered to put the effort in to making love to his stunning wife (amazingly!) he fast forwards!!! From that moment on, he never gets to experience sex, its always fast forwarded. The device takes over his life as he misses more and more of its experiences. Things spiral out of control, as he skips divorce, an enormous weight gain and even the death of his father (the Fonze). This film has a fairly serious message about making the most of life and not passing things by, no matter how annoying they are etc. Its all back-of-a-cigarette-pack level philosophy, but its OK for a film like this. The ending was suitably contrived, but that was to be expected in such an American mainstream comedy. It was surprisingly short of laughs by the end as it took on a much more serious tone than expected. Walken was good as the crazy professor, but you have to ask yourself, should such a renowned actor really be plying his trade in such a throwaway flick? I guess the pay was too tempting! Career resuscitation was offered to the Hoff and the Fonze, making this something of an old-timer comeback. On the whole, I enjoyed Click, but what would have pleased me would have been a nasty ending to shock the audience from their cosy expectations.