"He's Always Chasing The Pot Of Gold, But When He Gets There, At The End Of The Day, It's Just Corn Flakes." --- Morty (Christopher Walken)

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2006)

"Click" (2006)
Directed By: Frank Coraci
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, & Henry Winkler
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (for language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references)
I have such mixed feelings about this film. On one hand, I detest its marketing ploy: making it out to be a comedy, when it is anything but and showing any funny moment the movie may have in the previews. But, on the other hand, the dramatic element of "Click" works like a charm. And herein lies the problem, should I judge the movie based on how it was marketed or how the movie actually was? This is not your typical Adam Sandler comedyand thank God for that. I am not what most people would call a big Sandler fan. I have always thought that he has talent, but often wastes it on mediocre comedies like "Little Nicky" and "Mr. Deeds". So, I was not very interested in seeing "Click" because, from everything that I had seen, it looked exactly like a typical Sandler movie. You know the ones, I am sure. They have lots of bland jokes throughout and then try to form some sort of genuine heart and emotion right near the end. However, "Click" has two huge differences: it actually has a heart and its jokes, even though you have already seen them in previews, work quite well and had me laughing almost constantly.
Michael Newman (Sandler) is a workaholic architect, who is sick of working late away from his family and, of course, having to try to figure out which remote control controls what (?). So, he goes to "Bed, Bath, And Beyond" to buy a universal remote control. At the store, he meets Monty (Walken), an eccentric man who resides in the very back room. Monty gives him a universal remote for free under one condition: Michael can never return it. "Why would I return something that was free?" Michael asksthough we all know that, by the end, he'll know. Soon, Michael discovers that the remote can control anything. He can fast-forward through arguments, mute the dog, and so much more. At first, everything is just peachy, until Michael begins to fast-forward too much and the remote begins to act on itselfforwarding Michael through huge gaps of his life. Soon, Michael finds himself divorced, miserable, and with a son who is making the same mistakes he made. Now, Michael must fight to correct the wrongs he made and to try to achieve the life he accidentally gave up.
Do you get what I mean? "Click" is not really a comedy, but it isn't really a drama. It's an awkward mesh of the two that made me feel as though I was watching two separate movies blended togetheralmost as if Doctor Frankenstein had gotten his hands on the final cut. The two parts of the film, if judged separately, are both equally effective in what they are trying to do. However, when you have two effective parts of one movie, it leads to an almost completely ineffectual movie. Had "Click" stuck to one path, this would have probably been a great movie, but, instead, it was just okay. "Click" is an uneven viewing experience. When it was over, I didn't know whether to smile or to cry or to whatever. I didn't know what effect the movie was supposed to have on me. I knew I was meant to learn a lesson from the movie, but how could I learn a lesson from a movie that has numerous crude jokes and too much physical humor in the first half? How could I take it seriously?
"Click" is one of Sandler's better movies, but it could have been so much more. Had the humor in the first half been toned down to more serious laughs, the last half may have made more of an impact. "Click" works best as a drama, but, unfortunately, this drama is tainted by an hour of comedy that, once the movie ends, seems horribly out of place. Adam Sandler is actually great here. He gave an emotional, moving performance that proves that, when he is given good material to work with, he is a fine actor. Kate Beckinsale also does a wonderful job. Is it just me or is she becoming more and more beautiful with every passing movie? When "Click" ended, I felt conflicted about writing my review. I knew that I could not recommend it for how it was marketed, but I also knew that I simply had to recommend it for what it actually was. This is not your conventional comedy, because this isn't a comedy at all. It's an emotional journey that will show you that you should treasure what you have while you have it.
Final Thought: If you want to see a typical Adam Sandler comedy, then skip this completely. It is far more than that.
Overall Rating: 6/10 (B)