The Dichotomy of Adam Sandler
The genius of Adam Sandler lies in the way he makes his audience laugh at things they'd normally feel ashamed to laugh at. Whether it's seeing him beat up a Buddhist monk or subject his neighbor's creepy kid to all kinds of physical and psychological abuse, people who enjoy his films can't help but find knee-slapping humor where it isn't supposed to be found. He doesn't quite have a monopoly on this particular ability, given that there are nods to the "screwball comedies" of the 80s (a period which Sandler apparently reveres, seeing as how he grew up right smack in the middle of it), but he has definitely come up with his own unique brand of it.
In Click, Sandler yet again flexes his guilty-pleasure-comedy muscles. In what appears to be a riff on Bruce Almighty, he stars as a man who is frustrated with his professional life in spite of the fact that his home life is something that most other people only fantasize about. Like Jim Carrey's Bruce (whose girlfriend, Grace, was played by the smouldering Jennifer Aniston), Sandler's Michael is married to the impossibly hot Donna (played by the impossibly hot Kate Beckinsale). He has a nice place to live, two precocious kids, and a horny dog. The thing is, he busts his ass day in and day out at his architectural firm and is still unable to make partner. He is also frustrated by the fact that he is unable to make head or tail of the various remote controls lying around the house; he is unable to figure out which one turns on the TV, or which one opens the garage door, etc. So he goes out one night to buy a universal remote.
And it is here that the fun begins. He walks into a store called "Bed, Bath and Beyond" where he stumbles into the "Beyond" section to meet Morty (played by the wonderfully zany Christopher Walken) who ends up giving him the sought-after universal remote, although we will eventually learn there's no such thing as a free ride. The remote turns out to be a way to control Michael's very world, which offers huge comic possibilities.
The second act of the movie is non-stop belly laughs, the highlight of which is where Michael slaps and farts in the face of his time-frozen boss, played with aplomb by David Hasselhoff. Anyone who groaned through Hasselhoff's narcissism during the Baywatch years will be absolutely delighted at how game he is about being a total jackass in this movie.
The third act, however, stumbles somewhat as Michael finally sees the long-term repercussions of his virtually omnipotent actions, specifically his act of "fast-forwarding" or "chapter-skipping" through the parts of his life he finds inconvenient. This is almost identical to the part of Bruce Almighty where Bruce realizes how difficult it is being God.
And this is the other side of Adam Sandler, which is invariably difficult to watch. One can forgive him the cliched, turnabout aspect of his movies, where his character realizes that the party is over and it's time to grow up, but there is nothing more groan-inducing that watching the guy try to "act." It was fun to see him "cry" in The Wedding Singer, where he basically mangled Madonna's Holiday (to the delight of everyone watching), but seeing him try to emote is genuinely painful, and I don't mean in a poignant, Dead Poets' Society way.
The movie resolves, of course, with a happy ending you can see coming from two hours away, at least for anyone familiar with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
For me, Sandler's best work is the stuff that's silly all, or most of the way through, like Anger Management. When he tries to infuse his movies with "values" or what passes for them, it just distinctly seems as if he is trying somehow to justify the uniformly juvenile behavior of his character throughout most of his movie by saying "it's okay, he learned to be a better person in the end." Good grief.
All things considered, when an Adam Sandler movie comes out, audiences should be given the power to "fast forward" through the parts where he tries to play it serious, which is only usually in the last twenty minutes of his movies.
In Click, Sandler yet again flexes his guilty-pleasure-comedy muscles. In what appears to be a riff on Bruce Almighty, he stars as a man who is frustrated with his professional life in spite of the fact that his home life is something that most other people only fantasize about. Like Jim Carrey's Bruce (whose girlfriend, Grace, was played by the smouldering Jennifer Aniston), Sandler's Michael is married to the impossibly hot Donna (played by the impossibly hot Kate Beckinsale). He has a nice place to live, two precocious kids, and a horny dog. The thing is, he busts his ass day in and day out at his architectural firm and is still unable to make partner. He is also frustrated by the fact that he is unable to make head or tail of the various remote controls lying around the house; he is unable to figure out which one turns on the TV, or which one opens the garage door, etc. So he goes out one night to buy a universal remote.
And it is here that the fun begins. He walks into a store called "Bed, Bath and Beyond" where he stumbles into the "Beyond" section to meet Morty (played by the wonderfully zany Christopher Walken) who ends up giving him the sought-after universal remote, although we will eventually learn there's no such thing as a free ride. The remote turns out to be a way to control Michael's very world, which offers huge comic possibilities.
The second act of the movie is non-stop belly laughs, the highlight of which is where Michael slaps and farts in the face of his time-frozen boss, played with aplomb by David Hasselhoff. Anyone who groaned through Hasselhoff's narcissism during the Baywatch years will be absolutely delighted at how game he is about being a total jackass in this movie.
The third act, however, stumbles somewhat as Michael finally sees the long-term repercussions of his virtually omnipotent actions, specifically his act of "fast-forwarding" or "chapter-skipping" through the parts of his life he finds inconvenient. This is almost identical to the part of Bruce Almighty where Bruce realizes how difficult it is being God.
And this is the other side of Adam Sandler, which is invariably difficult to watch. One can forgive him the cliched, turnabout aspect of his movies, where his character realizes that the party is over and it's time to grow up, but there is nothing more groan-inducing that watching the guy try to "act." It was fun to see him "cry" in The Wedding Singer, where he basically mangled Madonna's Holiday (to the delight of everyone watching), but seeing him try to emote is genuinely painful, and I don't mean in a poignant, Dead Poets' Society way.
The movie resolves, of course, with a happy ending you can see coming from two hours away, at least for anyone familiar with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
For me, Sandler's best work is the stuff that's silly all, or most of the way through, like Anger Management. When he tries to infuse his movies with "values" or what passes for them, it just distinctly seems as if he is trying somehow to justify the uniformly juvenile behavior of his character throughout most of his movie by saying "it's okay, he learned to be a better person in the end." Good grief.
All things considered, when an Adam Sandler movie comes out, audiences should be given the power to "fast forward" through the parts where he tries to play it serious, which is only usually in the last twenty minutes of his movies.
posted by Jim Arroyo at 11:37 AM
2 Comments:
I'm sorry but I tend to disagree Jim. You see, I just saw Click myself and I found that scene in the rain to be one of the most poignant, most powerful scenes I have ever seen. Sandler is just getting older and trying to diversify himself...that "death" scene was a good first step.
Okay, now the one thing I hate about blogging is that I couldn't see the smirk (or was it an ear to ear grin) that you had on your face as you typed that comment, or hear your guffaw afterwards...
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