Click Movie Review

Movies like Click have always been my favorite since childhood, these fantasy ideas milked for comedy in a modern context. Mr. Destiny meant more to me than It's a Wonderful Life because it was about sports and sex and taking control during the fantasy. Memoirs of an Invisible Man spoke to me about all the real problems such a superpower would bring. More recently, Frequency used time traveling radios to mess with things and save a dysfunctional family.

Click is one of those movies. It sure milks every gag out of the remote control that controls the universe, but it goes to some dark places and achieves the full spectrum of emotions, all the while delivering puerile Adam Sandler shenanigans.

The best Adam Sandler movies have been a little bit dark, with brutality towards small children and random deaths. When he's too nice, it's not funny. Click has a healthy share of child-bashing, with Sandler screaming and swearing, even making a little Asian kid cry.

That's dark comedy, but Click goes to the dark emotional places too. I appreciate a comedy that can force you to think without losing momentum. It gives the jokes more edge because there's something real at stake.

While getting there, Click satirizes all aspects of remote control culture, even into the DVD world. The visual effects make it all work creating an awkward surreal world of live action interacting with manipulated images.

Sandler fans will appreciate all the references to his whole world of film. The O'Doyle family lives next door, semi-regulars Henry Winkler, Sean Astin and Nick Swarsdon show up.