Click

Rating

Click is a high-concept, low-brow variation on It's a Wonderful Life that will have Adam Sandler fans laughing even as it leaves Frank Capra spinning in his grave. In their third collaboration (after The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy, Sandler and director Frank Coraci aim at the lowest common denominator and consistently hit their target, from scary casting (David Hasselhoff as Sandler's shallow, sexist boss; Sean Astin in a tight red Speedo) to a rancid menu of fart jokes, fat jokes, oversexed dogs, and other attempts at humor that rarely rise above the level of grade-school pranks. Sandler's "family comes first" sentiment somehow manages to survive the onslaught of rude, crude attitude that Sandler brings to his role as Michael Newman, a workaholic architect who learns the hard way that, well, family comes first. This happens after Newman gets a magical remote control from Morty (Christopher Walken, the film's one and only highlight), an eccentric oddball in the "Beyond" section of a Bed, Bath & Beyond store who's a devilish version of Wonderful Life's benevolent guardian angel. But Sandler's no James Stewart as he uses his techno-marvel (complete with a DVD-like "life menu") to fast-forward through his life's most unpleasant moments, only to realize that he's been missing lots of good stuff, too. With Kate Beckinsale as Newman's neglected wife, impressive older-age make-ups by Rick Baker and a lot of digital wizardry to beef up the humor, Click won't disappoint Sandler's established fan base, and its $40 million opening weekend offered ample proof that Sandler's box-office clout remains remarkably consistent