another Adam sandler movie

Rating: 1/10 (18 March 2008)

i guess it was time for Adam sandler to try a heart-warming family comedy. i really didn't want to see this, because i end up hating almost anything Adam sandler does. he always seems to be doing the "waterboy" voice, even when he isn't trying to. i gave him some slack because i enjoyed "punch-drunk love", a movie where he actually seemed to stretch a bit as an actor and try to make you forget for a few moments that it's him on screen. well, back to the same old garbage here. he surrounds himself with an excellent supporting cast (including Christopher walken, Kate beckinsale and even Jennifer Connelly), but to no avail. it's a story about a busy family man given a "universal" remote that allows him to access all parts of his life, including fast-forwarding through the parts he doesn't like (and accessing the commentary track, done by James earl Jones). of course, it spirals out of control. It's an interesting premise. with a different actor, one more capable of pulling the audience in, it would have been spot-on. instead, with him, it came off as syrupy, trite and heavy-handed, eliciting no audience empathy at all. to me, sandler seems to have a smirking, sleepwalking quality to his performances, like we're both in on some joke. i never bought him as a father, a husband or an architect. boo!