Remote Out-of-Control Comedy
Click Fast Forwards For Laughs

For those who are young enough not to remember a world without a television remote control, perhaps the wonder of the device is lost. Nevertheless, I can still remember the days of turning a knob and choosing from six local channels. With the advent of cable and the television remote control, it was like being given fire from Prometheus himself. So, it was only natural that such power would soon give rise to fantasies about using it to control the universe.

Click
Morty (Christopher Walken, left) helps Michael (Adam Sandler) examine the features of his new universal remote control in Click. (Columbia Pictures, 2006)
Directed by: Frank Coraci
Written by: Steve Koren & Mark O'Keefe
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, Henry Winkler, and Julie Kavner

Rated PG-13 (for language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references)
Running time: 98 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 7 out of 10.

In Click, Adam Sandler plays Michael Newman, a husband and father who is pulled between his obligations to his family and to his job. When he decides to buy a universal remote control to make his life less complicated, he gets a bit more than he bargained for.

At the local Bed, Bath & Beyond (past a door marked "Way Beyond"), Michael finds his new universal remote. Morty (Christopher Walken), the quirky technician who provides the item, gives Michael the remote free of charge but warns him that there's a "no returns" policy.

Michael soon discovers that the remote has some undocumented features. Not only does it control the television, it also quiets the barking dog and allows Michael to fast-forward through a cold morning shower.

Soon Michael is using it to skip through arguments with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and to pause the world so he can vent his anger toward his boss (David Hasselhoff). Of course, there's a price to be paid for such power. Michael finds the remote has a life of its own and he can't do anything to stop his life from passing by.

The premise of Click is a new twist on a familiar idea. The story of a magical item that gives the user untold power is as old as Aladdin's lamp. This item of power can be a magic lamp, a gold watch -- as in The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything (1980) -- or a remote control. As always, it turns into a cautionary tale about choices and consequences.

Sandler plays Michael as a likeable guy, whose need to get promoted is based on his love for his family. He wants them to have the best of everything, so we forgive the blind career-driven mentality. Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner are a delight in guest cameos as Michael's parents. The real scene stealer, though, is Walken. His quirky singing and dancing, along with his lust of Michael's "smokin' hot" wife, bring much needed laughter.

For a Sandler comedy, Click isn't wildly funny. It suffers from comedy over-exposure. The bits used in the previews have been seen by movie goers so many times that often the big laughs go unappreciated by the audience. Seeing Sandler move a kid's glove so he gets smacked in the face by a baseball is only funny the first couple of times. Unlike Sandler's more inane comedies, Click tells a story that doesn't rely on displays of comedic rage and fart jokes (although there are some).

This is a softer comedy, one that more mature crowds will appreciate. The question is, will Sandler's fans appreciate it? Are they expecting another Happy Gilmore or have they too matured?