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Movie Review

Click

Shamma M. Raghib

Director: Frank Coraci
Cast: Michael: Adam Sandler, Donna: Kate Beckinsale,
Morty: Christopher Walken, Ammer: David Hasselhoff, Ted: Henry Winkler.
Running Time: 108 minutes
Rated PG-13 for use of words and sex-humor
Campus Rating: 7.3/10

STORYLINE: Sandler stars as Michael a hardworking, middle class architect trying to work his way up the ladder to partner at his firm. To get all of those things he desires, from success to money to job satisfaction, Michael works too hard. In fact, he works so hard, he can't seem to find the time to take the kids on a great summer vacation or finish the tree house he started building for them. One night, in a fit of frustration, after trying to get the darn remote control to work the television, Michael heads off to a department store, where he wanders into a strange stock room, and finds Morty (Christopher Walken) a whacked out, crazy guy who offers him the latest, most wonderful universal remote control ever made. However, it doesn't control the TV, it controls the universe, giving Michael the power to skip over periods of his life. One of the film's few really clever bits is having Michael's life with an "audio commentary" narrated by James Earl Jones.

The critic's review: At first when I heard that this was an Adam Sandler movie, I thought that it is going to be another comedy and crude humor movie. I was wrong; I did not know that Sandler could actually act in such a deep-meaning comedy.

The writers of the movie lure audiences into typical Sandler jokes you would expect, including farting, slapping other people and dogs who love stuffed animals a little too much. I have to say that over-use of dog humping throughout the movie was a bit rhetorical at first, but even this had a meaning at the end of the movie. The idea behind Click is a good one. Co-writer Steve Koren claims it came from a joke he once played on his girlfriend. “We got into a long argument, so I picked up the remote, pointed it at her and hit the 'mute' button,” he says. “She didn't find my little wish amusing, but I thought a lot of people could relate.”

Now for the drawbacks, sadly, Kat Beckinsale(wife) doesn't get to do more than walk around the house in short shorts and tank top t-shirts and a trio of guys give Sandler the kind of support the movie needs to be more than a one man show. However I loved the little Cameron Monaghan who plays the most annoying next-door neighbor. It might be the funniest performance all year by an actor below 18. The logic of this Universal Remote is not completely understandable. If Michael can fast-forward in time, why can't he hit reverse and alter his destiny?

The movie Click is in itself a partly-predictable, immature humor comedy film, but after all these ingredients are poured down, Click at last will question your inner self, reach out to your heart and tells a morality story about living life and taking time for what is important, before it is too late. The big moments are the last brilliant 30 minutes as Coraci and Sandler put the audience in tears as we start recognizing the fragility of life and happiness.