It's Christmas in July . . . well, er, at least June . . . for Adam Sandler in the comedy fantasy Click.
Sandler's latest is an odd mix of his trademark slapstick and lowball sophomoric humor overlaid with a sentimental touch that recalls such Yuletide classics as A Christmas Carol and Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. Four years ago Sandler scored with audiences in Mr. Deeds, a schmaltzy comedy based on Capra's 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and is hoping lightning will strike twice.
It does in Click, at least in fits and starts. However, by the time the plot starts to grow all gushy and weepy, you may think it's time to pull the plug.
Nine years ago, Click's Frank Coraci directed Sandler in the whimsical The Wedding Singer, just revamped as a Broadway musical hit, and the following year in the goofball hit The Waterboy. But Coraci's last film, Jackie Chan's Around the World in 80 Days, had no such luck. Click is somewhere in between.
Its mix of sci-fi and what-ifs will find fans among the young teenage boys who find Sandler so funny. There are plenty of jokes here revolving around passing gas. The film's running gag, of which the filmmakers never tire, involves a dog who has developed amorous feelings for a large, yellow, stuffed toy duck. Adults may not share the amusement of this moment as much . . . at least after the 10th time.
The plot is high concept: Sandler's Michael Newman, a harried architect in a big Manhattan firm, has sacrificed his family life for his job. Overworked and underappreciated, he begs for something to make his overcrowded life easier. He finds it with an eccentric inventor of gizmos who has a huge warehouse-sized office at the back of a home goods store. Morty (Christopher Walken at his most bizarre) offers Michael a shiny blue universal remote control that will help him avoid the confusion of having too many remotes at home.
But very soon Michael discovers that this is a magical universal remote that he can use to control his universe.
Soon he's lowering the volume on the dog's bark; putting his wife (a radiant and sweet Kate Beckinsale) on pause so he can collect his thoughts; fast forwarding through the dull points of his life; going back to relive some of his happiest moments.
You can guess that there will be an unexpected price to pay in all this, as the universal remote begins controlling Michael's life, even skipping years to jump to the "good parts."
There are some funny sight gags in all the mayhem, as well as potshots aimed at the Arabs and the Japanese. One amusing visual effects sequence has Michael using the picture-control buttons on the remote to change the dimensions of his sexist boss (a leering David Hasselhoff) during a meeting on sexual harassment in the workplace. The film's second running gag revolves around the deliciously nasty tricks Michael plays on the status-conscious boy next door who always one-ups the Newmans by bragging about the latest expensive doo-dad his father has bought.
Yet soon one begins to wonder when the point of the movie will turn up. It doesn't surface until the final half hour as comedy writers Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe's script turns to pathos and begins unfolding its not-so-surprising secrets. Here, Click is given a thick veneer of sentimentality that seems heavy-handed. It's not a totally happy combination. After all that has come before in the plot, the film's salvation for Michael's increasing distress seems a cheat, at least until you realize that there was no other way to end the story.
Rather than flat-out comedy, Click becomes a cautionary tale about the consequences of choosing to travel one path over another in life. The scariest thing, though, beyond Click's nearly nonstop product placements, is that '70s TV icons Henry Winkler (Happy Days) and Julie Kavner (Rhoda) are playing the grandparents.
mjanuson@projo.com / 401-277-7276
***
Click
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, Henry Winkler, David Hasselhoff, Julie Kavner, Sean Astin.
Rated: PG-13, contains violence, sexual situations, profanity
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