Techtite DVD Reviews

The Film: Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine a happily married businessman that looks like Adam Sandler. By some freak of good luck for this poor sap, his wife looks like Kate Beckinsale(!). She's just put the kids to bed after playing cowboys and Indians with them, with her in the role of "Pocahontas." So in comes Mrs. Pocahantas in her rather sexy looking costume, sitting on the sofa next to her husband, and her husband is...busy working! In fact; he'd just as soon his whole life could be fast-forwarded to the "good stuff" like more business work, without realizing how lucky he is. If only this loser could get the wake up call he deserves...with one simple little Click.

Yes, this is another Adam Sandler movie. Yet once again the former Saturday Night Live star attempts a project that is more dramatic than we thought possible in the guy. This is surprising, since the trailers and commercials for Click all promise a film that is completely whimsical. How could they not, given the premise? At its core, this is pretty much an urban fairy tale, where Once Upon a Time, workaholic Michael Newman (Sandler) goes out to get a remote control for his TV. Everything is closed except for Bed, Bath, and Beyond (which either paid big bucks for this commercial tie-in, or this film was robbed!), which oddly enough sells remote controls...in this movie, anyway. Then again, who knew that the store had a new area labeled "WAY beyond," which has a remote control for your whole life...?

At first, all looks like a bed of roses. With one click Michael can fast forward through an entire argument with his wife, Donna (Kate Beckinsale). When annoyed with his boss (David Hasselhoff), he can pause the action just long enough to smack his boss upside the head, without his boss ever knowing. If his seven year old daughter Samantha (Tatum McCann) is about to have a loud and girlish slumber party, he can press "chapter search" and skip past it, without missing any sleep over it. He can even help his son Ben (Joseph Castanon) show the neighbor's kid a thing or two, by pausing the action during a game of catch, and making the ball hit the bratty neighbor kid right in the face (a gag that's as funny as it looks in the film trailers).

Admittedly, this is less the comedy then a drama, and we'll discuss that soon enough. Yet some film critics claim that all the best laughs are in the trailers, and there I must disagree. It was pretty funny when Michael discovers that his life's "audio commentary" is narrated by James Earl Jones, and that a "Making of Documentary" is none other than his, um...conception. Mind you; these are minor jokes, so I don't feel bad mentioning them here. The point is that there are more jokes in this film than others may say...although, admittedly, they are all squished into the first half of the film...a factor which I will be getting to, next.

Here's what has all the theater masses polarized about this film: while the first half of this film is completely comedic, the last half is 100% drama. You can see how this would make the comedy and drama fans quite polarized, right? But for me, I don't mind when a comedy is suddenly dramatic, as long as the story shows a reason for it, which this one definitely does.

You see: the more you ignore the "little" things in life, the more you miss the most important things. Sure, it's an old moral, but it still has teeth to it, and in this film it's told in a fresh and imaginative way. Michael easily fast-forwards to his promotion at work, which he's always wished for...but he had to jump through so much of his family life to get there, that Donna slowly feels like her husband isn't even "there" anymore. In time, the remote even gets a mind of its own, and automatically jumps ahead, skipping his family life entirely...in more ways than one. Soon Michael is ten years into the future, when his kids are teenagers and his now-ex-wife is married to his son's seedy, Speedo-clad swimming coach (Sean Astin). Jump ahead some more, and...well you get the idea.

Sure, some critics didn't like peanut butter in their chocolate, or for that matter, drama in their comedy (or vice versa). To each their own. But should a film be given a thumbs down just because it did not fit firmly in one film genre...? No. The laughs are effective in the first half. The drama is equally effective in the second half. Maybe one or two of the dramatic moments just struck a chord in me, like when Michael accidentally jumped too far into the future, and learned that his father had died. Wishing to relive the last moment they had ever talked, he learns that he coldly gave him the brush off, thinking he'd casually see him the next day. Maybe I'm just sensitive about such a scene after losing my own father five years ago, but that scene really hit me.

I will admit, however, that the last half of the film (dramatic) is more effective than the first half (comedic). In fact, they may have made a better film by keeping the comedy to a minimum, a la Jim Carrey's The Truman Show, or Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. The comedy is just so ineffective sometimes. What's with the running gag about the dog feeling "romantic" towards a giant stuffed duck? Sure this emphasizes the sort of moments Michael would just as soon "skip" past in his life, but it's not funny, it's not dramatic, and frankly, the whole segment should've been cut for a DVD deleted reel. Then again; while Sandler felt he had to drag a flatulence joke into the film kicking and screaming, who hasn't had an obnoxious boss they would love to do...that...to? I'm just saying. It may not be funny, but it was realistic enough...so to speak.

The DVD Extras!: It's not that I'm trying to sell you on getting the special edition of this film. To the best of my knowledge, this is another one of those "name the movie special edition even when it's the only edition available" sort of deals. However; in case someone in the future looks at this review and there's a bargain bin "regular" edition of the DVD; this is a review of the edition as was originally released. That all having been said, let's move to the DVD extras.

The audio commentary includes Adam Sandler himself, along with Director Frank Coraci, Executive Producer Tim Herihy and Writer Steve Koren. This, in a nutshell, is why I love Adam Sandler. Most stars would be against an audio commentary even when the film was a blockbuster. Other times; they leave skid marks from commenting on the not-as-successful films they have starred in. Not to be brutally honest though Click was hardly a blockbuster, as much as I liked it. Adam still did an audio commentary for it and the DVD is all the better because of it.

Featurettes galore adorn the special editions "special" features. "Make me Old and Fat" (love the title!) shows the makeup effects for an older Adam Sandler in the film. "FX of Click" are the more general special effects, while "Fine Cookin" is additional fat suit footage. Additional featurettes are of production design, the futuristic cars made for the film (did I miss something there?), and a featurette of director Frank Coraci. There's even a feature about working with dogs in the movie.

Then there are the deleted scenes. First let me tell you about the (wait for it)...secret deleted scene! Go to the deleted scene menu and click "right" on your remote while the main menu button is highlighted on screen. A lightning icon should appear. "Click" on it (press enter) to see a deleted scene of an "old" David Hasselhoff.

Oddly enough; this secreted-away deleted scene was my favorite. Maybe that's just me? The other four "visible" deleted scenes include an extended scene with Rob Schneider as the foreign prince, another scene about a stuttering security guard, yet another scene with former SNL alum Rachel Dratch as Michael's coworker, and the last scene being of Terry Crews as a guy who sings in his car. As I said: the hidden scene was far more interesting to me.

It all matters little, however, because what really matters is how much I really liked this film, itself. I can't urge you enough to at least rent this title and check it out. After that, who knows? You might buy the DVD.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. While some jokes get their needle stuck in the groove (if you catch my meaning), the resulting comedy drama is a real winner for anyone who can relate...which is many.
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