Bedtime Stories (2008, Adam Shankman, USA) **1/2
Cinema explores the ways in which fiction and life interact to the point of cliché. That is not to say that this theme is not worth exploring. Many movies (Stranger than Fiction), and many kid's movies use the theme in a charming and profound way (My favorite of these kids movies are Labyrinth and Spirited Away). But so many kids' movies use this theme (like Enchanted, The Never Ending Story, A Kid in King Arthur's Court) that I groaned at the idea of another one. I hoped that Bedtime Stories wouldn't be as bad as the most basic exploration of this theme, the dream wakeup twist. The idea of "It's not real, it's all a dream. Or is it…" The dream wakeup shows that fantasy does have real effects, but who cares? Obviously I came into the movie with very low expectations. I expected the to see the simple idea that stories have an effect on real life and real life shapes stories. And that essentially is the story of the movie. But the characters defy the conventions of the theme in such a way as to make this movie worth watching.
Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) is an atypically selfish person for the hero of a fairy tale. While babysitting as a favor for his sister, Skeeter quickly finds out that his niece and nephew have prophetic imaginations. When together the three create a bedtime story, mysteriously the story manifests the next day into a real life equivalent. And Skeeter, being a selfish person, immediately realizes the many ways he can use this for his personal advantage. For the rest of the movie, Skeeter tries to manipulate the kids into writing the perfect scenario for his life- where he's the hero who gets the girl (Jill, played by Keri Russell), beats the enemy (Kendall, played by Guy Pierce), saves the town, pleases his boss (Barry Nottingham, played by Richard Griffiths), and gets his dream job (running a hotel) so that he lives happily ever after. Even when the kids write a bad ending for him, he doesn't tell them their powers and enlist their help. He instead tries to counteract their ending through means of his own (and by making himself fireproof).
Skeeter's best friend Mickey (Russell Brand) graces us with a unique kind of stupidity. He is not the same kind of stupid as Lloyd Christmas, Peter Griffith, or Billy Madison though he has the same IQ. Brand works with standard material (like the joke that he's too stupid to read) and makes his own brand (haha) of hilarity. Maybe it's because he looks like a European snob that his stupidity is so refreshing. Mickey has an ineffable magic worthy of a comedic starring role. He immensely adds to the enjoyment of the movie.
Bedtime Stories ends in cliché fashion of happily ever after. Skeeter, however, is rewarded for his selfishness. What kind of moral is that? Skeeter gets everything he wants from life because he manipulated others and decided to use the kids magic on himself instead of trying to do something noble like save the world or end poverty (which he easily could have done). This at least gives the movie some dimension and brings it a little closer to life, which is what it intended to do all along.