What's here seems well done and sincere enough. It's just that there seems to be something missing, something that would have given the film more heart . . . and soul.
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With a premise like this, you'd expect pure silliness, especially with Adam Sandler playing the lead. A man wanders into the "Beyond" room of the local Bed, Bath, and Beyond looking for a universal remote that will simplify his life, and he gets a literal "universal" remote—a control that can do the same things to his life as normal remotes do with a television set. Pause, stop, fast-forward, skip, rewind. You name it. But "Click" is a surprisingly serious and moralistic cautionary tale that begs workaholics to stop and smell the roses—with their families—before it's too late. Picture a cross between "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol," with a little comedy added, and you've got a pretty good idea of how this plays out.
Michael Newman (Sandler) is a breadwinner with a capital "B." His work comes first, though it hardly seems like work. In fact, his office environment is just as fantastic as the fantasy sequences that will come later. Everywhere you look, the cubicles are occupied by gorgeous, model-quality women—except for Michael's frumpy assistant. With the head of the architectural firm (David Hasselhoff) having two women at his side cozying up to him as if he were Hugh Hefner, shouldn't that be enough to tip Michael off that he's not exactly on the fast track to become a full partner? Their latest client, the one who makes poor Michael work overtime instead of taking the family camping as he'd promised, is an Arab (Rob Schneider) who wants them to design a bar/restaurant chain which sounds suspiciously like an oasis version of Hooters.
George Bailey had angel Clarence to show him how life would be in the future had he not been born, and Scrooge had his ghosts. Here, it turns out that the guy who "sells" Michael the remote from the back, back room is also a supernatural being. But Morty (Christopher Walken), who serves as Michael's technological tour-guide and companion time-traveler, is more of a cross between the wacky inventor from "Back to the Future" and a creepy Mephistophelean who cautions Michael about the remote and can't seem to refrain from oogling Michael's wife or talking about her "rockin' body." If that's not weird enough, this remote is apparently as addictive as television, and it comes with one big catch that isn't really explained to poor Michael. His increased use of the remote leads to some pretty big leaps in his life. As a result, he sees far into his future and becomes as horrified as Scrooge to see how fat factors into his life—and I'm not spoiling a whole lot here, since the DVD box shows a picture of the gigantic Michael.
And there you have it. There's not much in the way of development. We see in the simplest of vignettes how inattentive Michael has been to his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and two children. Even his parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner) spend more time with his family and attend more events with them than he does. So when Michael lays his hands on this remote, he starts small, by turning down the volume on his barking dog, or pressing fast-forward on a cold night so the bowser can do his business in a hurry. But as work intrudes on his family life, he starts playing with the remote more and more. Here's the curious thing: when work comes in conflict with family, he uses fast-forward to get through an evening with them so he can get to work on his project. Now, I'm no slacker, but if you care about your family as much as he says he does, wouldn't that work the other way around? And that, of course, is the point. Priorities. Michael has conned himself into thinking that he's doing all this for them, when they'd be perfectly happy with less money and a dad who worked regular hours in a retail job.
That sincere message has a profound effect on the film. Sandler, who played a serious grown-up sans the cutesy stuff in "Spanglish," does it again here in "Click." While there are some comic moments, the core sequences in the film are played surprisingly straight. Coraci obviously wants this to stand as another "It's a Wonderful Life." Laughs are a dime a dozen. Roses cost more, and Coraci and Sandler obviously want guys to see this film and go out and buy their significant other a bouquet. So here's a word of caution: if you're a workaholic, avoid watching this film with your spouse or significant other until AFTER you've made time in your busy work schedule to do something recreational first.
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