CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 06/23/06

A Script That Clicks

By dennis sampson

Via some borrowed themes from It's a Wonderful Life, the writing team behind Bruce Almighty delivers another high-concept comedy -- this time about a man who has the power to manipulate his universe with a remote control. In a bold move, the movie takes a stab at telling a real story, rather than existing as a simple good one-line pitch.

Click

Steve Koren & Mark O'Keefe

Click takes a page from old Chinese curse: May you get what you wish for. Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is a workaholic architect who can't balance the time he needs to spend with his wife (Kate Beckinsale), his kids, and his job. One night, while shopping for a television remote at "Bed, Bath and Beyond," he comes across Morty (Christopher Walken), a peculiar store employee in the "Beyond" section who seems to have the answer -- a remote control that governs the time in Michael's life; with the click of a button, he can speed through events, slow them down, and even freeze them indefinitely. There's a snag, however: like TiVo, the remote learns from its owner's choices, and starts sifting through time the way it believes Michael would want it. In a blink, days, months, and years are lost -- as are all of the experiences that would have gone with them. Michael gets what he wants and then realizes it's the last thing he'd ever need.

Click is a film with heart that has something to say and does it through an intelligent narrative. Screenwriters Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, who had penned Bruce Almighty (an underwritten high-concept comedy about a man who gets to be God) here manage to touch on much of the sensitivity and cleverness lacking in their previous film. This project was far more personal, as Koren told Creative Screenwriting Magazine, allowing them to internalize the material. This movie takes time to establish its characters, and moreover, have some genuine, creative fun with its premise (the uses for the remote are far craftier than Jim Carrey's Bruce character's usage of his divine powers).

The first half of the film -- the jokier half -- consists predominantly of Michael's inventive uses for the remote. Koren and O'Keefe's sitcom backgrounds (Seinfeld and The O'Keefes, respectively) are abundantly clear as the humor wavers from slapstick to gross-out -- with some jokes working (Michael using the remote to exact revenge on an obnoxious neighborhood kid) and others not (Michael's own kids too often spouting cutesy dialogue). But the movie is about a lot more than a guy whose remote can make a big-breasted jogger slow down as she bounces by. There's a strong theme of life, death, and family running through the picture that eventually becomes the film's focus (the scenes with Michael's father, played by Henry Winkler, are particularly strong). What makes the movie emotionally effective is the fact that these motifs are tied into the movie's core concept of Michael's character flaw; his constant desire to move through life at top speed comes back to haunt him in a very sobering way.

But alas, in its closing moments, the film takes the safe road and we're left with that old, aggravating cliché. For a movie that's all about the choices we make and the consequences we endure because of them, Click certainly pulls a cop-out maneuver before its final fade out. It would be refreshing to see a Hollywood movie with actual guts, where its characters felt the resonating outcomes of their choices.

For all the dopey comedies of recent years (many of which have starred Adam Sandler), Click is a movie that suffuses its humor with themes typically reserved for other, more serious genres. Koren and O'Keefe seem genuinely interested in telling a thoughtful story about something. And that, in today's climate of mindless high concept one liners, is a success.

Click

Sony Pictures
Rated PG-13; 97 min.

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Dennis Sampson is a commercial production coordinator and unproduced screenwriter. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his better half, Susan, and their dog Tripp.

Click courtesy Sony Pictures

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