Click’s premise lays perfectly
in-line with those of most other typical Adam
Sandler fare. The limited-but-well-liked actor
here plays Michael Newman, a workaholic
architect whose devotion to his career
problematically intrudes on his family-life.
Desperate to take baby-steps to make his time at
home easier, Michael heads to the local Bed,
Bath, and Beyond to buy a universal
remote-control for all of the electronic-devices
he owns. He gets much more than he bargained
for, though, when he meets a wacky inventor (or
is he?) named Morty (Christopher Walken) in the
“Beyond” section. Morty shows Michael to a
remote that is truly universal; it has
the ability to control one’s life, allowing
Michael to fast-forward, pause, and listen to
commentary regarding each moment he experiences.
Before long, he begins to abuse such features
and has fast-forwarded through so many rough
patches in his life that he has lost all
connection to reality.
Just as Click’s
plot is what audiences have come to expect from
Sandler, so is the film’s sense of humor. Crude
and juvenile gags are the focus of writers Steve
Koren and Mark O’Keefe—there are several
sketches involving the family-dogs humping a
stuffed-duck, to provide an example—but the
occasional witty joke isn’t too far or few
between. Like many other Sandler pictures, I
never really minded the comedic side of
Click, although I can’t say I was every
very entertained by it, either. What is
surprising about the film, however, is how well
it handles its dramatic side. When Michael’s
life begins to fall from his control as a
programmed fast-forward-feature skips through
years of time and puts his personality on
auto-pilot, many of the realizations he reaches
are rather poignant. The thread involving the
character’s crumbling relationship with his
father (played by Henry Winkler) is the most
affecting thing that Sandler has ever
contributed to film this side of Punch Drunk
Love.
Still, despite
carrying some surprisingly effective segments,
Click remains mostly an exercise in
frivolity. Its teenage-male target-audience is
never ignored and, for every fascinating moment
that the movie has to offer, there are five
others that are plagued by dopiness. This is the
perfect movie to watch on HBO if there ever was
one; little about it screams “see me!”, but once
the viewer invests their belief in its
characters, they will be able to enjoy the ride
for what it is.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews (7.20.2006)