Bedtime Stories (2008)

Bedtime Stories is, pure and simple, a children's movie as giddy and fun as you can get outside of animation from a major studio -- or previously from Adam Sandler himself, for that matter. Well-known for never having let go of his inner child, Sandler's movies usually bear the outward taint of blue adult language. My favorite Sandler vehicles have been cleanest in that regard: Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, and Happy Madison. (I haven't seen Reign Over Me yet.) Bedtime Stories now joins that list, precisely because it's full of an infectious childlike glee -- even as Sandler's man-child character wrestles with how to harness such archetypal imagination to his benefit. Our story begins when uncle Skeeter (Sandler) is asked to take on night-shift babysitting duty for the two children of his estranged sister (Courtney Cox) during her business trip. Her best friend (Keri Russell) has the day shift. The cute urchins' mom won't let them watch TV or eat nonorganic food (much less sugar) so Skeeter resorts to telling them bedtime stories to lull them to sleep. (There's a wonderful bookend to the movie about how the father of Skeeter and his sister told them his own bedtime stories when they were kids.) The children pitch in with their own contributions to the story and the next day the story, in its own ways, comes true (including a literal gumball shower). Skeeter begins to experiment with (or try to manipulate) a bedtime story that will benefit his career and fulfill his life's dream -- a promise denied him for 20 years -- though often to comic effect. Stories range from settings in the Wild West to Star Wars, including lightsaber-type weapons that could only have come from the Three Stooges had they been Jedi knights. In the end, Bedtime Stories is a heartwarming and infectiously sweet movie about reconnecting with family and fulfilling a father's legacy and one's own destiny. Yes, it has goofy and cornball scenes, a few fart jokes, and a big green booger monster but Adam worked hard to keep it clean. It's a fun movie just for kids -- and any adults who are still in touch with their inner child. 4 stars.