Fast-Paised review: Click'

Adam Sandler needs more time, and we need more laughs

By Matt Pais

Overworked dad Michael (Adam Sandler) happens upon a remote control that literally controls his universe, allowing him to fast-forward through fights with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) while inadvertently missing major events in his kids' lives.

Big question: Can "Click" capture Sandler's hilarity and still deliver an uplifting family message?

Skip it: Sandler has demonstrated he can do drama ("Punch-Drunk Love"), but in "Click" he fails to straddle the line between sensitive, regretful father and "Billy Madison"-style loose cannon.

Catch it: If you want to see how awesome it would be to have James Earl Jones do the commentary on your life-in-progress DVD.

Bottom line: "Click" tunes into two channels: a low-brow comedy station on which dogs hump stuffed animals, and a cautious network whose heart relies on a conventional wake-up call for a workaholic. The time-shifting holds up better than "The Lake House," but the humor is mean-spirited and the themes never escape the routine.

Bonus: As the comical weirdo who gives Michael the remote, Christopher Walken proves yet again that he is Hollywood's greatest X-factor. Just the way he says words like "cawtion" is the work of a perennial scene-stealer.

Matt Pais is the metromix movies producer.

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'Click'

Directed by Frank Coraci; screenplay by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe; cinematography by Dean Semler; edited by Jeff Gourson; production design by Perry Andelin Blake; music by Rupert Gregson-Williams; produced by Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Neal H. Moritz, Koren and O'Keefe. A Columbia Pictures release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:37. MPAA rating: PG-13 (for language, crude and sex-related humor, and some drug references).

Michael - Adam Sandler

Donna - Kate Beckinsale

Morty - Christopher Walken

Ted - Henry Winkler

Trudy - Julie Kavner

Mr. Ammer - David Hasselhoff