2006 comedy drama
Rating: 10/20
Plot: An ambitious architect gets himself a remote control at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond and gains the ability to stop time, fast forward through the boring parts of his life, mute people, etc. It's hilarious for the audience but not as wonderful for the architect as you might think.
This movie features Twinkies quite a bit, and Adam Sandler gets his remote control from a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. There's also mention of going to TGI Fridays, so that's what we call a Product Placement Trifecta. Only they're all a little negative. That remote control is given to Sandler by Christopher Walken who I believe is playing the devil. He's not explicitly Beelzebub, but I thought he hinted at it. So really dumb people--the kind of audience these movies seem aimed at--might end up watching this and thinking that Bed, Bath, and Beyond is hell. And the Twinkies make the characters fat, so that doesn't seem like a strong advertisement. No such thing as negative publicity though, right? And I have to admit that I really wanted to try one of those Twinkies with chocolate.
At one point, Adam Sandler screams--his preferred method of delivering his lines because he wants to make sure we really here them--the following: "All right, America. Have your laugh. I'm an idiot." Now I don't want to pick on Adam Sandler because I'm sure he's a nice enough fellow. But couldn't that be the tagline for almost every single movie the guy stars in? There's also a scene in this movie where Sandler freezes his boss, a character played with an alarming enthusiasm, and then positions himself on his desk so that he can fart on his face repeatedly. That's generally how I feel when watching an Adam Sandler movie actually.
It's not as offensively malodorous as the rest of his oeuvre actually. In fact, there's a little bit of heart and a nice enough lesson to go along with this; in a way, it feels like a modern-day It's a Wonderful Life or something, but one made by a Frank Capra who enjoys fart gags and thinks a recurring joke featuring a dog violating a stuffed animal is hilarious and the sort of thing that gets more hilarious the more times you see it. Oh, and a Capra who insists on having child characters who curse. See, that's kind of what Adam Sandler movies are to me--movies where they have kids curse in order to get a laugh. So all that immaturity kind of clashes with some nice themes. You do sort of feel stomped on by that message by the end, stomped on by Adam Sandler's big hairy boots.
It's always good seeing the great Henry Winkler, and a scene with him is where it was easiest to empathize with the main character. I like that James Earl Jones does the commentary for his life. It wouldn't be who I would pick (I'd go with Werner Herzog, obviously), but Jones is still a good enough choice. I also though Christopher Walken, even though he really shouldn't waste his time with movies like this, kind of stole the show. When he talks to the dog about the animal's violation of that duck ("Nice work."), it almost made the amount of times I had to see that worth it. In the end, the message is just too heavy handed, and the main character is too much of a jerk to be redeemed in the end.
This was the third movie I've seen in a very short time where a sad character is in a cemetery with the New York City skyline in the background. Is that the same cemetery? Is it a famous one?
Question of the Day: Who would you want to do the commentary track for your life?
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