Sandler plays Sandler in Click...a comedy?

Rating: 4/10 (28 November 2006)

** out of **** stars
Click continuously reminded me of the Charles Dickens tale Scrooge: A man magically gets the chance to view his life in the past, present and future, and in the end, doesn't like what he discovers. The difference is, Click won't survive the test of time. It'll just get filed away with most of the other typical Sandler comedies. Or was this a comedy?
Adam Sandler plays architect Michael Newman, but he actually plays Adam Sandler, or his alter ego. All the Sandler mannerisms are present: sudden outbursts of yelling, a bashful, cuddly voice (especially when in dialouge with his wife), jokes that border on raunchy yet are not quite brave enough to cross the line. His wife Donna, played by Kate Beckinsale, nags him for working too much and for not spending enough time with her or their two children. The thing is, he does spend a lot of time with them, or seems to. Michael's argument with Donna is he wants to provide luxury for his family, which is why he works so hard.
This is the conflict of the story. No, there's not much else.
Michael's life seems rather pleasant, actually. His children admire and love him. His parents adore him. He lives in a big house with all the amenities. Yet, he suffers. Welcome to the world of another egocentric American.
Christopher Walken, with his idiosyncratic vocal cadence and a hairdo that rivals Einstein's rat's nest, is cast as Morty, the inventor of the "universal" remote control that changes Michaels life. Michael first meets Morty on a late night excursion to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a remote for his television. Morty, in his words, gives Michael his amazing device because "he seems like a good guy." A bad guy with some moral lessons to learn would have worked better, or at least a good guy with problems that were much more serious.
Michael quickly discovers how to manipulate his life with the remote. He can mute his nagging wife or his barking dog. He can fast forward through the "superfluous" experiences in his life and get to the good stuff, like job promotions and sex. He can change the color and tint of his face. Michael initially enjoys the remote so much he seems like a teenage boy who just lost his virginity. At the height of Michael's remote control ecstasy, I guessed that the invention would soon teach him some hard lessons about treating his life as if it were a game, and I guessed right. As Michael fast forwards further and further away from the present and deep into the future, the movie becomes less like a playful comedy and more like a heartfelt tragedy. The film makers seemed to let the story mutate into a different genre without much regard for it's silly roots.
I'm not blind to the fact that there are legions of adoring Adam Sandler fans in movie watching land who love to see Adam play Adam. They gladly expect it. When he plays himself he's likable, funny, charismatic and charming. He obviously knows his audience and has a fantastic grasp of popular culture from the 1970s to today. My fear is the more films he makes where he plays it safe, the harder it will be for him to explore character roles that are more than one-dimensional - as he did in Punch Drunk Love and Spanglish - and escape crucifixion. Sandler's craft has proved to be far-reaching, yet many mistake his talent and ingenuity as a journey outside the box they'd like to keep him in.
Click isn't a horrible film, but we've seen much better versions of it. It will elicit a few laughs, perhaps even a few tears. Fans of Sandler being Sandler will probably like it well enough. I myself look forward to another film that helps me almost forget that I'm watching him.