Merrick’s remote never works…
Okay, no matter how…marginal…this movie may be, you gotta love the premise: Haven’t we all, at some point in their lives, wished we had a remote control to turn off, fast forward, pause, or rewind the people around us? A device that worked on girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, annoying bosses, the hot babe (or hunky guy) next door, yapping dogs, or the staff of AICN? It’s a simple, truthful premise that could be kind of fun.
Besides, CLICK features The Hasselhoff – in a major role unparalleled since his stint as Ultra-Amphibious-Transforming-Hasselhoff in THE SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS MOVIE. Before you infidel Talkbackers launch your vicious and relentless condemnation of Michael Knight, CLICK HERE FOR MORE AMMUNITION! (click the blurry pic of David on the motorcycle to play the clip)!
Here’s Curtman with a look at CLICK…
I’m indifferent when it comes to Adam Sandler so I was able to approach it with an open mind. I find him annoying in some roles yet funny in others. Guess you can chalk that up to the roles he chooses, which don’t exactly stray very far from one movie to the next.
In it he plays Michael Newman, an up and coming architect who is married with two kids. Kate Beckinsale plays his scorching hot wife Donna. As he tries to make a better life for his family he finds himself becoming more and more immersed in his work (how he manages to focus on his job with Donna strutting around the house in her skimpy shorts is a plot hole in itself…but I digress.). Next thing you know the family is taking a back seat to his job. Camping trips are getting canceled, he misses his son’s swim meet, and family morale is quickly fading. He has a hard time coping as he wants to make partner at his firm with boss David Hasselhoff, who has a couple of the hottest secretaries in recent memory. Stressing over losing control in his life he walks into a Bed, Bath & Beyond in search of a universal remote so he can do away with the numerous remotes in his house. While straying into the “Beyond” (which reminds of an episode from “Family Guy”) he comes across an eccentric man named Morty, played by Christopher Walken (in a role reminiscent of Christopher Lloyd in “Back to the Future.”)
After Michael explains his dilemma Morty hands him a universal remote which, according to the movie tag line, controls the “universe.” Michael soon learns that this is no ordinary remote. Instead of controlling the TV it now controls the things around him. With the “click” of a button he can mute his barking dog or fast forward through his nagging wife, much to his delight. He can even “pause” life and alter the outcome at his convenience. He begins having fun as he s now getting back the control over his life he sorely needs. But as he gets carried away with his remote he finds that when he fast forwards through certain mundane parts of his life all similar events get automatically fast forwarded as well, sometimes with undesirable results. He finds that life is quickly passing him by and he begins missing out on all the things in life that are important to him. Some of which he never intended on missing. As he tries to get back those moments the movie switches gears and goes the sentimental route, with moderate success. I don’t want to say the ending is a letdown, but you can kind of see it coming based on the way the fantasy theme played out once he entered “Beyond.”
While the jokes are sporadically funny in “Click” (most of which come at the expense of David Hasselhoff) Sandler does manage to pull off a mildly entertaining movie balancing his usual comedy routines with a touch of sentiment. At times I felt like I was watching an updated variation of “Back to the Future” (hence the coincidental similarities between Walken and Lloyd.) Not a great movie but definitely one of Sandler’s better efforts.
