Not a big fan of Adam Sandler, who always plays the same character: a good-hearted childish idiot. I’d never pay $10 for the movie ticket to see Adam Sandler, but I thought if I rent a DVD for less then a $1 he’d go well with my evening cup of tea.
The plot: Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is a workaholic architect who through his great work is about to be promoted to the senior partner at his construction firm. He has a wife, Donna (Kate Beckinsale of Pearl Harbor, Underworld, The Aviator etc.) and two kids, a boy and a girl. He is overwhelmed by the work, and he can’t even get his head around all the remote controls in his house, so he goes out and buys a universal remote control from a strange employee of Bed, Bath & Beyond (Christopher Walken). With this new remote he can actually control his universe: rewind and fast-forward through unpleasant parts of his routine life. He loves his new remote, but soon the remote gets a mind of its own and fast-forwards through most of Michael’s life. Only now does Michael realise how much time he had spent at work and how little time he had spent with his family and missed out on so many things. Problem is, he can’t control the remote that keeps fast-forwarding through his life.
The good: Despite typical Adam Sandler jokes such as smacking people over the head with a golf club, farting into his boss’s (David Hasselhoff) face etc., this movie is quite sweet and most of the humor comes actually from the situations the characters are in, although there is plenty of gross-out jokes too. Christopher Walken was great, but I have seen him in similar roles before where he played same fairytale character. Toward the end of the movie I saw a completely different Adam Sandler and I was surprised that he can play a character that is unusually complex and deep for him. I liked the message that family is important, and even though the going gets tough from time to time, the moments one has with his family and parents that are not going to be around forever are the only thing worth living for. Pretty funny and inspiring story. Nominated for 2006 Oscar for Best Achievement in Makeup.
The bad: not a fan of fart jokes. Twist in the end was predictable.
The summary: a sweet time waster for adults.
The credits: Director - Frank Coraci | Writers - Mark O’Keefe, Steve Koren | Produced by Adam Sandler, Barry Bernardi, Jack Giarraputo, Tim Herlihi | Original Music - Rupert Gregson-Williams | Cinematography - Dean Semler | Costume Design - Ellen Lutter | Columbia Pictures Corporation
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