At a glance, Click looks like just
another goofy Adam Sandler comedy. Even its pedigree underscores
the assumption. Director Frank Coraci, a long-time Sandler
collaborator, guided The Waterboy, one of the most
mindless of Sandler's man-child films.
What most people don't want to recognize,
however, is that Sandler has actually grown up a bit with
his audience. He's reached an age where, however pretentious
you might think this, he wants to actually occasionally
say something with his art.
He and Coraci still have to go through
the motions of being Sandler. When the comedian veers too
far away from what his fans expect, those fans tend to stay
away. With a somewhat predictable but also pretty moving
script by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, Click actually
strikes the balance Sandler needed. For once, a Happy Madison
movie is actually about something, and not just an excuse
for everyone to run around being stupid.
Not that there's anything wrong with that
stupidity. Sandler has always been a cannier comedian than
he gets credit for being.
Click, however, elicits moments
of honesty from him that we've never seen before. This isn't
a laugh a minute movie. At times, it's heartbreaking while
not betraying either emotion.
Up-and-coming architect Michael Newman
(Sandler) has it all: a gorgeous wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale),
two kids, loving parents and a nice house in a good neighborhood.
But it's not quite enough, and it's pretty obvious that
Michael has lost track of his priorities. When he cancels
a camping trip with his family in order to get work done
for the obnoxious Ammer (David Hasselhoff), things start
coming to a head.
Taking the "Beyond" part of Bed, Bath &
Beyond a little too literally, Michael encounters Morty
(Christopher Walken), a distracted man who obviously isn't
what he seems. Thus Michael gets a truly Universal Remote,
which allows him to control his environment a little too
well.
While Click takes no surprising
story directions, it does treat its ideas intelligently.
If Michael fast forwards through something, it only affects
his mind. His body lives through the time, running on auto-pilot.
Look around you; how many of us are doing that now without
the benefit of a remote? Clearly, even if Michael had been
present, his fate would still be the same.
On the flip side are those standard Sandler
moments that occasionally grate against the rest of the
movie's tone. He has a running rivalry with a neighbor kid
that really defies logic. In a flashback, we see the origin
of the sentiment, but a wife like Donna would probably notice
and put a stop to the bizarrely juvenile behavior. Luckily,
Click gets the Rob Schneider appearance out of the
way fairly quickly.
Far outweighing those lowbrow elements,
though, is a really gifted cast. Sandler has always been
a pretty generous comedian, always allowing others to steal
scenes from him. Here there's not so much theft as a good
give and take that builds the energy.
As Michael's parents, Henry Winkler and
Julie Kavner turn out to be the kind of grandparents anybody
would love to have, and their warmth fills the screen. Beckinsale
has to play sharp emotional turns in fits and starts, but
finds a strong through line. Even the campy Hasselhoff gives
what may be his best acting job ever; when he doesn't take
himself seriously, he's kind of charming.
Of course, Walken is in a class by himself.
Any movie that gives him a chance to show off his song and
dance skills gets an extra point, and Coraci knows how to
let the quirky character actor go. Or maybe he had no choice.
Walken is Walken, and it's almost always right.
This might also be the first Sandler movie
to win an Academy Award. Providing age make-up, Rick Baker
does a subtle job that's incredibly effective. Winkler and
Kavner turn believably octogenarian. It should at least
get a nomination; heck, Click even has the president
of the academy playing a therapist.
Behind the razzle-dazzle is heart. And
though I knew where Click was going, the big surprise
came that Adam Sandler really moved me. If he can keep growing
as an artist (and some of you might be utterly shocked at
that word), we're going to have to look at him in a whole
new light.
