Click - Austin American-Statesman movie review

Adam Sandler flick, 'Click,' is remotely entertaining

By JOHN DeFORE
Austin American-Statesman

It's Fourth of July weekend. You'd planned a campout with your family, but the boss just dumped a huge "do it now or else" project on you. Suddenly, somebody gives you a magic gizmo that acts like a remote control for reality. What do you do?

If you're smarter than a peanut, the answer is: Hit "pause" for however long it takes to get the project done; take a restorative nap; then hit "play" just in time to pitch that tent with your loved ones.

Sony Pictures

'Click'

2 out of 5 stars

The verdict: Picks Hollywood cliché over more interesting channels.

Director: Frank Coraci
Starring: Adam Sandler, Christopher Walken, Kate Beckinsale, David Hasselhoff, Sean Astin
Run time: 97 minutes
Release date: June 23, 2006
Rating: PG-13 for language, crude and sex related humor and some drug references.
See showtimes

More on the movie
• Christopher Walken has become a celebrated movie madman.
• The Flick Chick Quick List of movies for which viewers need Adam Sandler's digital remote

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
Trailers require Quicktime

Unfortunately for "Click" screenwriters Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, having this common-sense idea occur to Adam Sandler's harried family man would mean an abrupt end to the misery they have in store for him. Viewers should accept in advance that Sandler will never hit "pause" for anything other than a few simple gags.

After all, the "be careful what you wish for" fable only works when God maliciously misinterprets your wishes. This time out, God works a lot like TiVo: After Sandler decides to fast-forward through a few everyday chores and hassles (showering, fighting with the missus), his magic remote decides it has learned his preferences. Soon, it's skipping over everything he might label mundane — in other words, weeks, months, decades of his life.

That's a big drag, as you'd expect. A life lived on autopilot is one in which your children become strangers, your wife is neglected, and loved ones fade away, suspecting they weren't so loved in the first place. This is an honest-to-goodness life lesson, albeit one that's a lot more glum than advertisements lead audiences to expect.

A more interesting film would go beyond the age-old moral — stop and smell roses — to connect Sandler's technological dilemma with our own. Does that iPod eat up the silent moments when you once did your best thinking? When you use your cell phone to deliver constant updates on your whereabouts, do you stop paying attention to what's in front of you? "Click" would rather tell us something we've heard a million times before — and when the lessons get really difficult, the filmmakers employ the oldest cop-out known to Hollywood.

Before all this, the movie does get in some crowd-pleasing moments, some more lowbrow than others. We see a hobbit in a Speedo and the Fonz as a grandfather; we get a clever bit in which Sandler navigates his life as if through a DVD features menu. Best is the scene in which Christopher Walken (the mad scientist with the remote) is introduced: Though short, it lets Walken mock himself hilariously.

Walken is not enough to make this would-be "It's a Wonderful Life" more than a time-killer. But at least he occasionally keeps you from wanting to change the channel.