Review: Click

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)