Click

Stop me if you've heard this one. A well-intentioned schlub neglects his wife and kids by spending too much time at the office. Somewhere along the way he discovers that there's more to life than promotions and pay raises. Schlub somehow learns to put family first—hugs all around and happily ever after. I'm not sure whether it's more frustrating that this story has become one of the top movie clichés of all time, or that it's probably truer of more fathers than we'd like to admit.

The schlub in this case is Michael Newman (Adam Sandler), and we're supposed to accept that he's single-minded enough to think he can someday earn a partnership at his architectural firm with a taskmaster as arrogant as Mr. Ammer (David Hasselhoff). We're also expected to believe that he would neglect his family life with a devoted wife as gorgeous as Kate Beckinsale, er, Donna, and two sweetly tempered children who want nothing more than quality time with Daddy.

Christopher Walken, as a mad scientist, has an interesting remote control for Adam Sandler

Clichés and contrivances aside, Click has a terrific gimmick going for it that works to serve the formula. Frustrated from time wasted fumbling with his household's growing collection of remote controls, Michael goes shopping late at night for a universal remote. He ends up at Bed Bath and Beyond, the first store that's open, and quickly discovers what that third "B" is all about. In the back room, he meets an eccentric scientist named Morty (Christopher Walken), who presents Michael with the mother of all remotes sure to "rock your world."

Turns out the gadget not only operates the TV, but Michael's entire life as well. Imagine being able to take control of everything in the palm of your hand! Mute those pesky annoyances that keep you from getting work done. Fast-forward through the menial chores that keep you from relaxing. Pause time itself to gather your thoughts, skipping back to the past to recall important information. Move ahead in your life instantly to get over a nasty cold or upcoming worry.

Michael Newman (Sandler) has a device that is literally life-changing

Quite the handy invention, but you'd be right in thinking that it sounds too good to be true. At first, everything seems to fall into place for Michael, professionally and personally. But like Tivo, the remote learns his "viewing habits" and begins to automatically skip past moments that he's previously avoided. Like some episode out of The Twilight Zone, Michael suddenly finds himself missing out on not just the frustrations of life, but also its greatest pleasures.

As simplistic as the concept sounds, Click is really an excellent parable at heart. You can't simply fast forward through life's rough spots, because they're intertwined with the simple joys. If you simply waved a magic wand (or prayed to God) to erase the tough times, would life really be the same? Would you really be the same?

Execution is critical to a comedy like this, so it's good that director Frank Coraci is responsible for two of Sandler's more charming and successful films, The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, both similar in tone to this. And if Click seems a tad reminiscent of 2003's Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey, it's because Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe wrote both. The film also bears strong resemblance to the classics It's a Wonderful Life and Back to the Future, using altered realities to help the central characters gain a better appreciation for how blessed they really are.

Click also shows a lot of imagination with the remote control's features, going far beyond fast-forward, pause, and rewind. There's a "menu" button with lots of other options that I dare not reveal here, as they involve some of the movie's funniest bits. Suffice to say, the film reflects the times by humorously applying the digital age of entertainment to everyday life.

Kate Beckinsale plays the wife, Tatum McCann and Joseph Castanon the kids

The inventiveness is complimented by a great cast, though Sandler largely sticks to his usual schtick and Beckinsale is a pretty face in a role any capable actress could have handled. Still, Henry Winkler (Happy Days) and Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge on The Simpsons) are inspired choices as Sandler's parents, and together they all provide some genuinely moving and heart-wrenching scenes as Michael comes to realize how he's wasted his life by shutting out his loved ones. But it's Walken who again steals the show with another delightfully quirky performance. His first pronunciation of "REmote control" is priceless, and you never quite know what to make of him as the story goes along, which is probably intentional.

However, Click's problem is that it wants to have it both ways—with weepy moralizing and the vulgar comedy that's typical of a Sandler flick. Midway through, the movie becomes increasingly less funny as Michael gets older, and that's precisely the point, but audiences looking for consistent laughs may be disappointed. Imagine watching a Sandler comedy while keeping a Lifetime melodrama in your TV's picture-in-picture, then swapping them after an hour.

Dad finds a way to spend more 'quality time' with his children

There are many who would appreciate Click for its message, sweetness, and occasional cleverness, only to be offended by the scatological humor. We're not talking R-rated stuff, but at least half of the laughs come from gags involving flatulence, cleavage, sex, and too-tight Speedos (more of Sean Astin than I needed to see, thank you very much). The family dog is shown repeatedly trying to "mate" a giant stuffed toy, as if there could be nothing possibly funnier … until we see two dogs putting moves on the toy at the same time.

A few crude gags might be warranted because of the setup, but too often the film aims too low. An extended flatulence gag as payback to the boss goes way too far and reveals what the filmmakers will resort to when hard pressed to come up with humor that lives up to inspired bits about life controlled by DVD menus and Tivo remotes.

Click has its heart in the right place but its head in the toilet, and thus works against itself despite some great moments. When it releases to video, I suspect those who are interested in the movie's more wholesome moments will also grab their remotes and click right past the bad parts.

Talk About It

1. What practical solutions are available to Michael's dilemma? Does he need to find employment elsewhere, or can he make his work with Mr. Ammer fit his personal life? In other words, is the problem the job itself or Michael's outlook on life
2. What do you suppose is the ultimate problem with Michael's perspective? How is he misguided at the film's start? Does he care about material possessions too much or is he too focused on pleasing his family
3. What about Michael's family? Is there anything they could have done to improve their relationship with Michael? Or does it all fall on the father's shoulders
4. Suppose you had the opportunity to eliminate certain routines or stresses from your daily life? Would you? Is it wrong to try and eliminate life's hard times? Why or why not
5. What are some practical ways to keep "family first" in your life?

The Family Corner

Click includes plenty of profanity, including some irreverent uses of God's name and a couple uses of the f-bomb. Many gags involve cleavage, frank sexual dialogue, a man in a revealing Speedo, and several scenes involving sex, including a married couple fooling around under the covers, another married couple enacted via shadows on a wall, and then repeated scenes of a dog "mating" with a stuffed toy, not to mention a birth scene from the baby's perspective. The drug references are merely offhand remarks like, "Are you on crack?" There's also a really crude scene of flatulence. It all falls within the parameters of a PG-13 rating, but the tendency toward adult humor makes Click inappropriate for younger children and sensitive viewers.

Photos © Copyright Columbia Pictures

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

What Other Critics Are Saying

Blending the ideas that drove Groundhog Day and Bruce Almighty, Click introduces us to Michael Newman (Adam Sandler), an architect and family man who obtains a remote control that gives him god-like powers over his life—so, of course, he uses the device to indulge his fantasies and to gain advantages in his career.

This gives audiences plenty of opportunities to laugh at his mean-spiritedness and self-absorption. And then, after we've had our fun, it serves up a conclusion that assures us we can walk away with a clear conscience.

But Christian film reviewers are not fooled. They see this for what it is—a crass, indulgent bit of "entertainment" that contradicts its own moral lesson.

Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) says Sandler "shows more depth as an actor than he has before, suggesting it might be time he put away the sophomoric shtick. … All in all, [the writers] should have opted for a classier approach, and made a film appropriate for a much wider audience. That being said, no one's going to argue with the film's ultimate rousingly affirmative conclusion: Family comes first."

Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says he "wanted to like this movie. It's been a while since I've seen a flick with core messages so uplifting and valuable for our worked-to-death society. I wanted to laugh, cry and leave the theater with a desire to love my family more and live every day as if it were my last. Instead, I left wishing I had one of those nifty universal remotes for myself—so I could skip all the tart and tawdry stuff and chew on the five minutes that are worth clicking to."

"Were the film honest in its convictions about family life and paternal love, rather than a weak excuse for crude jokes and sitcom-style gags, it might deserve the benefit of any doubt," says Christian Hamaker (Crosswalk). "Instead, this cold-hearted, unfunny film deserves something else: the cold shoulder."

Mainstream critics are trying to persuade audiences to change the channel.