Click (2006)

Since Adam Sandler had been coasting on a wave of schlock for several years, it was tempting to dismiss Click as just the latest instance of his man-child gimmickry. And there's definitely a bunch of Happy Madison shtick -- Rob Schneider as a Middle Eastern prince? -- to sift through before getting to the film's heart. But once you're there, it's hard to deny that it can be intelligent, even affecting. Click will never be confused for the 21st century's answer to It's a Wonderful Life, as it clearly wants to be. But the fact that it even toys with sincere self-examination makes it more mature than most Sandler flicks. However a viewer feels about the film's middle-ground "stop and smell the roses" message, director Frank Coraci and company earn points for execution. The high-concept ability to pause, rewind, and mute real life has taken surprisingly long to reach the big screen, and Click is a satisfying realization of that gestation period -- even when it's as predictable as Sandler watching a big-breasted woman jog in slow motion. Fully a comedic performer in this late stage of his career, Christopher Walken has wacko fun as the electrocution-haired inventor of the remote, while David Hasselhoff and Henry Winkler are hammy and heartbreaking, respectively. Almost forgotten, though doing a better job than she probably needed to, is Kate Beckinsale as the wife Sandler's Michael Newman would never deserve. Perhaps what's most surprising about this Sandler film is that Sandler himself isn't an essential ingredient. He does a decent job, but the ambitious script by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe -- the team responsible for the similar Bruce Almighty -- does not require a performer like Sandler. If the ways Click diverges from Sandler's typical projects can get viewers past their prejudices, they may be surprised at how they're rewarded. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide