Click

Seen Tuesday 20 June 2006 at AMC Boston Common
* (out of 5)

I didn’t have high expectations for “Click.” Hell, I didn’t have ANY expectations for Click. The trailer looked slightly more amusing than Sandler’s typical crap, but not so much that I’d put money down. I figured the moments that made me giggle did so because they were contained within a three-minute clip, not a two-hour film. Boy, I was right. Despite the high concept with universal (zing!) appeal, this is a film made specifically for Adam Sandler’s pre-existing fan base. They’ll like it. If you don’t like Sandler, stay far, far away.

Sandler plays Billy Mad… er… Happy Gil… shit… MICHAEL… Michael Newman, an architect who is on the cusp of becoming a partner at his firm. To get to that point, he’s worked his ass off, trying to balance demands from his boss (David Hasselhoff), his wife (Kate Beckinsale… yeah, I know), his kids and his parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner). Unfortunately, most of his time goes to work, which angers the family, which stresses Michael out, etc, etc. Eventually, in a symbolic effort to make his life simpler, Michael makes a midnight run to Bed, Bath and Beyond to find the universal remote of his dreams, which will control the TV, the garage door, the ceiling fan, the kid’s toys, his neighbor’s car, and his kids’ hair growth. There he meets Morty (Christopher Walken) a Doc Brown ripoff who gives Michael a very special new product – a remote that controls his universe. Now Michael’s life has never been easier – he can savor the moments he wants to remember, and skip what he doesn’t want to experience. But everything goes to hell when the remote starts “learning” Michael’s habits, and skipping huge amounts of time that he didn’t want to miss.

So yes, the premise is just as pointless on film as those last few lines look on paper. Click’s biggest (but certainly not only) downfall is that the film’s pattern mimics Michael’s. Once the premise is established – “I can fast-forward through life!” – viewers could easily skip 15-minute sections of the film, and know they’ve only missed the same thing they’re now seeing. It’s a one-trick pony. It’s a gag that’s funny once or twice – one or two of the pause antics are amusing, especially when they involve Hasselhoff (and no, not the fart joke) – but when you stretch it out to two full hours without trailers, it wears very, very thin. It also doesn’t help that the same joke is made multiple times – specifically the 15-second sex session between Beckinsale and Sandler, and the family dog’s attraction to a giant plush duck. Repetition may be one route to comedy, but you have to make sure that you start with something humorous in the first place. So because of that, the film never really gets a chance to build the least bit of momentum – every time it looks to advance the bare-bones story, it runs headlong into some joke it already told, and grinds to a halt.

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