Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
CLICK is probably going to make a nice chunk of change for Sony. It’s pretty much right down the middle in terms of content, and there are enough things that will work with audiences that word of mouth will be decent. Adam’s hardcore comedy audience will, oddly, feel less enthusiastic about the film, but the fans of 50 FIRST DATES and THE WEDDING SINGER are going to eat it up with a spoon.
It’s an artless movie, a pretty naked hack of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and no matter what the ads are selling you, it’s not a big dumb summer comedy. If it was, I think I’d probably like it more. Instead, it’s an unabashedly oversentimental cautionary story, pushing the oh-so-fashionable message that fathers who work a lot are bad people who deserve to be punished. Based on the trailers, I’m pretty sure that was the big theme of this year’s SHAGGY DOG remake, too, and it’s been pushed in about two dozen other “comedies” recently. Evidently, the message that the film industry (an industry that pushes people to live some pretty extraordinary hours for work purposes) really wants to promote is that working hard is a terrible thing, and you should really only worry about spending time with your kids. It’s like ambition suppressant in movie form, and it’s really starting to rub me the wrong way when I see the message hammered over and over in film after film.
I don’t want to be mean about it, though, because I think the message of the film came from a heartfelt place for Sandler. He lost his own father last year, and a big chunk of the last third of this movie deals with regret over things you did or didn’t say to a parent before they were gone. Sandler’s performance in this stretch of the film is sincere and he really seems to dredge up some deep emotions. That tearjerker tone is going to puzzle some of his most loyal fans. It’s really not like anything else he’s done in that respect.
CLICK starts out as a pretty typical Adam Sandler vehicle. He’s playing Adam Sandler pretty much, and he’s actually charming in a low-key way in the early scenes. He’s not playing this as an over-the-top cartoon character, but he’s also not playing a totally defanged version of himself. Basically, he’s a real guy reaching his mid-to-late-30s and suddenly realizing that he’s not quite who he expected to be. More than that, he’s still busting ass to become that person he always hoped he would be, and it’s starting to take its toll on him. There’s a little bit of that randomly violent meatball Sandler in this character, but you get the feeling that’s who he used to be, and anything left of that part of his personality is just his way of having a little bit of fun. There’s also that strange sort of surreal sense of humor that Sandler has always featured in his films, as in a scene where an unrecognizable Rob Schneider shows up as an Arab prince, or in some of the scenes involving Christopher Walken as Morty, the guy who gives Adam the plot device... er, universal remote... that sets the movie in motion in the first place.
Adam Sandler and a seemingly-foolproof high concept aren’t enough, though. This movie isn’t executed with anything like the brain-bending wit of Charlie Kaufman, but you can tell it would love to be. When Adam first meets Walken, there’s a giddy pleasure to the way Walken hands over this incredible magical tool. He’s playing with the audience as much as his character is playing with Sandler. Walken explains the rules of the remote, and one of the biggest mistakes is how they set up this pretty remarkable ability to step into any moment of your life and then they barely use it. Basically, your life has a DVD-style menu that this remote calls up, and you can go chapter by chapter or scan or play audio commentary (provided by a fairly funny cameo) if you want. And that’s a moderately funny idea. But instead of exploring all the possible bends and twists in that concept, like GROUNDHOG DAY, this gets hooked on one or two ideas, and it spends a lot of energy considering how little ground it actually covers. I’m not a big fan of resetting things at the end of the film, so that nothing we watch really matters. It just feels like a cop-out, and it happens here too, even if they try to wink at you and have it both ways. That actually makes it worse.
The script is by Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe. O’Keefe’s got solid sitcom credentials, having been a NEWSRADIO writer, while Koren cut his teeth on SEINFELD, along with features like A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY and SUPERSTAR. They teamed up on BRUCE ALMIGHTY, and many of the things I didn’t like about that film show up here, too, making me think that it’s got to be these guys where the problems originate. I’m just not a fan of what they do with these high-concepts they keep developing. There’s something potent in the basic concept of CLICK, but the film misses the mark almost completely. It’s not fun, and that’s where the audience may well lose patience with it. The trailers are selling the comedy, and that’s just not the film that they made.
There are other issues, though, beyond the screenplay. Frank Coraci is obviously a great friend to Adam Sandler, and the two of them must have a great time together on-set. They’ve made two pretty big hits together, right in a row, with THE WEDDING SINGER and THE WATERBOY, but those were a full eight years ago now. CLICK’s their first time working together since then, and it really doesn’t do Sandler any favors. He’s worked with Paul Thomas Anderson and James L. Brooks in the time since he last made a film with Coraci, and it seems to me that Sandler should be chasing projects that are set up with real directors. Coraci just seems adequate, no matter what he’s shooting. He also botches some pretty important things, like shooting Rick Baker’s various make-up effects.
Which brings me to the most painful paragraph of this whole review. This is hands-down the worst looking movie that Rick Baker has ever worked on. I don’t know if his heart wasn’t in his work or if Coraci just doesn’t know how to shoot it or what the problem is, but there’s make-up done on Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner to make them look younger as well as older at different times in the film, and the younger make-ups don’t work at all. In fact, they’re really freaky, with skin that doesn’t look human... that doesn’t even look fully connected to the head. The old-age make-up, something Rick Baker should be able to do in his sleep, is probably the worst since MR. SATURDAY NIGHT. None of it looks real. Add to that the cheesy plastic production design by Perry Andelin Blake, especially for the last third, where CLICK becomes a futuristic SF film, and the film really is one of the least visually acute films I’ve seen recently.
As I said, the theme of CLICK is about using your time wisely. It’s about setting priorities. This summer, that’s certainly true with movies coming out and competing for your dollar. The question you have to ask yourself is, “If I’m prioritizing my life and making the most of every moment, is CLICK really how I want to spend two hours now that I’ve seen the preview for it?” Because honestly... I think you’ve seen the best parts of the film, such as they are. This is familiar ground, with little to distinguish it from anything that’s come before. Take that premonition for what it’s worth, and just call me the Ghost of Mediocre Movies Future.
I’ve got more stuff tomorrow, and I’ll be squeezing in my DVD reviews around a trip to the set of Judd Apatow’s KNOCKED UP and tomorrow night’s screening of PIRATES 2. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
