Click (2006)

Click is a postmodern take on A Christmas Carol meets It's A Wonderful Life. It's mildly funny with some good lines. It's not a sophomoric Adam Sandler chucklefest -- he hasn't done one in years -- but it shouldn't be since Click also gets serious and even carries a message I found quite moving. I esp. liked the special effects and the futuristic design of the world in the 2020s and beyond. (The featurettes describe the design effort that went into developing the cars, computers, and architecture of the future.) As you may have guessed by now, the timbre of the movie is a mixed bag, so please avoid seeing Click if you are a retentive sort that insists on a slavish consistency in tone. You should also skip Click if you don't appreciate the mawkish sentimentality summarized in a climactic scene as Adam Sandler impresses on his son "Family comes first!" (because one's career is a poor substitute). Moreover, don't start to watch Click if three instances of preteen boys using the S word (that's one per half hour) and a handful of scenes where a dog is humping a giant stuffed animal are going to offend you into turning the movie off. Finally, to those who complain that Click is inappropriate for their young children: What part of PG-13 don't you understand? Some kvetch that Adam Sandler plays a jerk (when they apparently expected comedy) but many family men find themselves turned into unwilling workaholics because of dysfunctional work pressures. Sandler's character had to encounter his own "crisis of truth" to learn where to draw the line and put his family first. (It would have been too sad if the whole lesson had been learned after the fact so don't begrudge his second chance.) I enjoyed the entire ensemble cast, esp. Kate Beckinsdale as Adam's wife, Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner as his parents, and his kids at every age. Christopher Walken, of course, is such a natural that he should get an Oscar nomination for every syllable and eye blink. Enjoy! I would give Click 5 stars but its uncouth slivers push it down to 4.5 stars.