Inspiration, Move Me Brightly...

Click

2006

Imagine being able to skip everything in your life that you just don't wanna deal with. How great would that be?! Michael Newman gets exactly that opportunity. All he wanted was a universal remote control so there aren't a dozen of them on his living room coffee table. At the only store open, hidden away in a back room, Michael (Adam Sandler) finally finds what he's looking for. A kooky electronics inventor type of guy (so well played by Christopher Walken) hands him the only device he'll need. Michael gets the hang of how it works except this is no ordinary remote control.

During the first half of the movie we're treated to a lot of comedy, some thanks to a bit of questionable immature material. We meet wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) and their two kids and see Michael bust at work as an up and coming architect. There are laughs a-plenty and this is turning out to be a fine Adam Sandler comedy. But with Michael's supernatural remote control he fast-forwards through much of life and finds everything spinning terribly out of control. The device seemed to have a mind of its own but what it was doing was adapting to Michael's preferences -- no fighting, no boring moments, just get to what he wants in life. Unfortunately, Michael goes too far and he winds up way in the future having missed much of his life.

In the end Michael realizes that family is absolutely the most important thing, most definitely more important than work. Life needs to be lived, through every good moment and every bad moment as well. There's not supposed to be a magical way to skip the crap.

Click was okay even if much of the humor was juvenile in nature. But was it a comedy or a drama? The first half was the former and the second half the latter so it certainly had an identity crisis. The acting and directing (mostly) all worked well included good performances from Henry "The Fonz" Winkler and Julie "Marge Simpson" Kavner as Michael's parents. Also appearing are David "Baywatch" Hasselhoff and Sean "Rudy" Astin.

Overall, I liked the main message, even if it was presented in a somewhat sappy way. And I liked the movie but it was far from being something incredibly rememberable. Not good for kids or anyone who can't tolerate immature Rated R humor or adult situations.