Click (2006 film)

Click is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, and produced by Adam Sandler, who also stars. The film is based on "The Magic Thread", a folk tale included in The Book of Virtues. Sandler plays Michael Newman, a workaholic family man who acquires a magical universal remote that enables him to control reality. The film co-stars Kate Beckinsale as his wife Donna and Christopher Walken as Morty, the eccentric stranger who gives Michael the remote.
Filming began in late 2005 and was finished by early 2006. Sony Pictures Releasing released Click in the United States on June 23, 2006. It was made on a budget of $82.5 million and grossed $240.7 million. It was nominated for Best Makeup at the 79th Academy Awards (it lost the award to Pan's Labyrinth). This makes Click the only Sandler-produced film (as of 2024) to be nominated for an Academy Award.
== Plot ==
In 2006, architect Michael Newman is consistently bullied by his overbearing boss, John Ammer, and often prioritizes work over his wife Donna and their children Ben and Samantha. One night, unable to keep track of multiple remote controls, Michael visits Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a universal remote and stumbles around various departments before falling asleep on a display bed. Upon waking up, he accepts a free remote control from a man named Morty, who warns Michael that the remote cannot be returned.
Michael learns that the remote can be used to control reality much like a television, but it can also control the universe. He uses it at work to cause light-hearted mischief and skip past minor inconveniences such as illnesses and arguments. Morty tells Michael that during these times his body is on "auto-pilot", going through the motions of everyday life while his mind skips ahead.
Anticipating that Ammer will promote him, Michael spends lavishly on himself and his family, only for Ammer to reveal that he will have to wait several months. Michael uses the remote to skip ahead in order to get the promotion, but discovers that he missed out on an entire year of his life. In 2007, he learns that he is in marriage counseling with Donna, the kids have grown up, and the family dog, Sundance, has died and a small dog named Peanut has replaced it. The remote, having learned Michael's preferences, begins to time-skip automatically. Every time he tries to throw it away or destroy it, the remote keeps on reappearing. Michael later tells Morty to return the remote back where it belongs since he had enough with it, but Morty refuses to take it back because it cannot be returned, making good on his warning.
Ammer tells Michael he is retiring and suggests that one day Michael may end up CEO. Momentarily forgetting his plan to outfox the remote, Michael says he would like that to happen, and the remote fast-forwards ten years ahead. In 2017, Michael is now the wealthy but morbidly obese CEO of the company, his children are ordinary teenagers, and Donna has divorced him and is now dating Ben's childhood swim coach, Bill. When Michael attacks Bill out of anger, the new family dog (who replaced Peanut) pounces on him, knocking him unconscious. The remote then fast-forwards six more years to evade the injury and other subsequent diseases, such as cancer and a heart attack. In 2023, Donna recounts that Michael has had liposuction and that she is now married to Bill.
Michael learns that his father, Ted, died of old age in 2021. Unable to go to when his father died, he then uses the remote to see the last time they saw each other, learning that he coldly refused to spend time with his father. At Ted's grave, Morty reveals he is the Angel of Death, enraging Michael. Overcome with guilt and shame, Michael asks to go to a "good place", whereupon the remote fast-forwards to Ben's wedding in 2029. Michael suffers another heart attack after overhearing Samantha referring to Bill as her father. At the hospital, Ben reveals he postponed his honeymoon due to work. Realizing Ben is making the same mistakes he made, Michael gathers the last of his strength to follow him out of the hospital. After collapsing, he urges Ben to put his family first, and assures his family that he still loves them before dying.
Michael reawakens in the present at Bed Bath & Beyond and believes he was dreaming, seeing it as a sign to make changes in his life. Michael goes back home, where he reassures Donna, Ben, and Samantha of his affection for them, promising to be a better husband and father. As he celebrates being home, Michael finds the remote and a note from Morty sitting on his kitchen counter. The note reads "good guys need a break" and says Morty knows that Michael “will do the right thing this time”. Realizing that his experience with the remote was a warning rather than a dream, Michael throws away the remote before going to enjoy the company of his family.
== Cast ==
* Adam Sandler as Michael "Mike" Newman
* Kate Beckinsale as Donna Newman
* Christopher Walken as Morty
* David Hasselhoff as Johnny "John" Ammer
* Henry Winkler as Theodore "Ted" K. Newman
* Julie Kavner as Trudy Newman
* Sean Astin as Bill
* Jennifer Coolidge as Janine
* Sophie Monk as Stacey
* Joseph Castanon as Benjamin "Ben" Newman
** Jonah Hill as Ben at 17 years old
** Jake Hoffman as Ben at 22–30 years old
* Tatum McCann as Samantha "Sam" Newman
** Lorraine Nicholson as Samantha at 14 years old
** Katie Cassidy as Samantha at 27 years old
* Cameron Monaghan as Kevin O'Doyle
* Rachel Dratch as Alice / Alan
* Jana Kramer as Julie Newman
* Carolyn Hennesy as Kathy O'Doyle
* Sid Ganis as Dr. Bergman
* Emilio Cast as Michael at 10 years old
* Michelle Lombardo as Linda
* Elliot Cho as Ping Woo
* Nick Swardson as Bed Bath & Beyond employee guy
* Rob Schneider as Prince Habeeboo (uncredited)
* James Earl Jones as The Narrator/Himself (uncredited)