A genuinely funny movie drowned out by a loud moral.

Rating: 4/10 (1 August 2006)

A good movie is like a good song: all the parts have to harmonize. No matter how good one instrument is, if another one clashes with it, that's all you'll notice.
Such is the case with "Click". Yes, "Click" is funny. Yes, there were points where I was laughing out loud. But sadly, this movie is a victim of a loud, discordant moral that doesn't really...click.
Michael Newman (Sandler) is a workaholic architect who has no time for his family. A slave to his dumb boss (David Hasselhoff), most of his free time is spent doing work, much to the chagrin of his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and kids.
One day, while traveling to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Michael wanders into the "Way Beyond" section, which is maintained by Morty (Christopher Walken), a wacky inventor. He gives Michael a sleek new universal remote which, interestingly enough, controls his universe.
Michael couldn't be more thrilled with this, and uses it to skip over parts of life he views trivial (family time, sex, time leading up to promotions, sickness). Of course, a problem soon manifests: the self-programming remote automatically begins skipping over these things without his input.
This movie does have a lot going for it: a strong cast (Hasselhoff scores as the boss, and Henry Winkler is good as Michael's dad), genuinely funny scenes (the sexual harassment scene had me in stitches), and some good lines from Sandler.
However, throughout the movie, we're introduced to the moral of the story. Actually, we're not so much introduced to it as it is forced upon us. The moral in question is "live in the moment". Were this billed as a drama, I would have expected and even welcomed a moral. However, this is a comedy. Its one and only goal is to make people laugh. And during the third act, I almost forgot I was watching a comedy.
That, of course, is not to say comedies can't include morals. "Bruce Almighty" was a laugh riot and included a good moral. Of course, that's because that movie knew not to shove the moral down our throats every three minutes. I'm just saying that morals are more welcome when they're more...subtly presented.
Going back to my comment at the top, the orchestration that is "Click" is perfectly in tune, except for that nagging, discordant moral.