SYNOPSIS

What is it with dads in movies? Seems like they’ve all got beautiful wives and great kids who never get enough attention because work takes up all dad’s time. Michael Newman (Sandler) has the same problem. He’s convinced that once his boss (David Hasselhoff) finally makes him a partner at his architectural firm, he’ll finally have time to spend with his gorgeous wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two adorable preschoolers. For now, he keeps having to back out of family events and working all night and eating lots of junk food.

Then a weird guy named Morty (Christopher Walken) working in the “Beyond” section of Bed, Bath, and Beyond gives Michael a magic remote control because “nice guys deserve a break once in a while.” Michael soon realizes he can use the device to silence his barking dog, fast-forward through a fight with his wife (and making up afterward), and skip a whole dinner party with his parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner) by going on “auto pilot.” Seeing the remote as his ticket to getting that big promotion more quickly, Michael starts fast-forwarding through big chunks of time. Before long, though, the remote takes over. Michael finally understands that he’s fast-forwarding through his family’s best years. But it might be too late.

Review by
CHRISTOPHER LYON

I was hoping to enjoy “Click” much more than I did. That big idea of a remote that can control life should open a world of possibilities for Sandler and company to explore and have fun with. But the laughs come very sporadically and the remote’s untapped capabilities only reveal the writers’ collective lack of imagination. Instead of using the pause button to take a much-needed nap or get a lot of work done so he can hang with his family, Michael fast-forwards through his dog’s bathroom break and a cold. Instead of using the “slow” button to catch a bus or something, he uses it to watch a female jogger’s breasts bounce as she runs. In fact, the fun he does have with the thing just isn’t that all that interesting.

And it’s not all that funny. I’ll admit that crude humor can sometimes provoke laughs. But Team Sandler seems to think crude humor is guaranteed to be funny just because it’s crude. So we get to see not one but three different dogs repeatedly “having relations” with a stuffed animal (in a variety of positions). Then we get to see a shadow of Sandler and his wife doing the same (in the remote’s fast-forward mode). Then we get to see Sandler passing gas in his boss’s face. And we hear him make a disgusting sexual comment -- to his parents. Again, it seems like the writers’ just don’t have time to come up with any real jokes or funny scenarios.

I know what you’re thinking; that’s just par for the course in a Sandler flick. Maybe, but the comic’s standard sophomoric humor falls all the flatter as the movie morphs into a somewhat serious drama about wrong priorities, loss of family, and death. The two moods just don’t work very well together. In fact, the serious side of the story “clicked” a lot better for me than the goofy stuff. The movie even makes some good (if preachy and sappy) points about what our choices in life cost us. (More in “Worldview.”)

As usual, the unpredictable Christopher Walken manages to be the best thing in the film. His mysterious Morty is both daft, mysterious, and a little menacing. David Hasselhoff (“Baywatch”) is just annoying, but the rest of the cast -- especially Winkler, Cavner, and Beckinsale -- are likable. Still, nothing in “Click” so likable that I won’t end up flipping past it when I come across the film on TV in a few years. In spite of its ultimately positive message, I can’t imagine I would ever Tivo it.