Click (2006)

by Steve Kochems

Summer is here and all the big blockbusters are around the corner. We've already seen the God of Thunder crash into theaters and Johnny Depp returned as Captain Jack Sparrow earlier this week at Cannes. But since I've been banned from international travel as a result of an empty bank account, I had to settle for Adam Sandler's comedy Click.

Now, from my point of view I think Sandler's filmography has been much like an avalanche. Billy Madison aside (though I do think it's funny), they start out with a little pebble of heart, just enough to keep you warm between the comedic gags. But as the years passed, Sandler has continued to try and shove any thematic moral he can pull out of a plot while trying to maintain its completely absurd premise. With that, we have our low point and the obliteration of Sandler's credibility for choosing good films.


But in the middle of this slow moving disaster, we have Click. A film about a workaholic (Sandler) who acquires a remote from a mysterious figure (Christopher Walken) and now has the ability to fast forward and rewind parts of his life which leads him on a journey about what should really matter in our lives. Anyone who hasn't seen the movie can still probably guess the ending.

I am curious as to how writers Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe had originally ended the film. It seemed aching for a cold twist, not a sappy Disney ending, about the reality of how precious each minute in our lives can be. But since it's a Sandler film we know it's going to go that route no matter how big of a prick our main character can be. There were countless moments I was actually glad that this selfish jerk had terrible things happen to him and I wished the film would end there, but no, it had to keep going...

My major problem with Click is Sandler, and not just because of what attaching him to the project meant for the story but also because he is the one tasked with carrying the emotional weight of the film, i.e. why we give a crap. A good example of a film who carries a similar thematic thread but does it with much more class is Jim Carrey's Bruce Almighty. I can't help but compare the two films because they have supernatural elements given to a man in a struggling career who's trying to balance his family life with work. For that matter, you could even throw Liar, Liar into this category. The big difference here is that for some reason Sandler forgot how to carry the emotional weight of the film. Carrey has proven to be an over the top comedic actor who can still anchor a theme (even while wrestling women), but Sandler simply doesn't have it in Click.

I'd like to give him some slack though, as the supporting cast only reassure the idea that this script could have been something funny with real consequence, but whether by the studio or Sandler's attachment it reverted into a childish version of A Christmas Carol. Kate Beckinsale does a nice job as a hot actress who would like to play a loving mother/wife, but I think they were hoping that she would actually come off as a loving mother/wife.

And as much as I love Christopher Walken, I can't help but think he, like Beckinsale, is only shoehorned into this movie because of his name rather than being good for the role of Morty. Not once do we ever get the angry, sharp tone of Walken that we've all come to know, but instead he's sympathetic to the plight of humanity and comes off as stale and boring.

I might be expecting too much out of Click, true, but I don't think I should have to dumb down my hope and optimism for incredibly drawn out fart jokes that I stopped finding funny years ago, you know, like when I grew up. I do think it's got an incredibly deep premise, full of possibility but squanders all of them in exchange for childish thoughts of farts, boobs, and, well, Adam Sandler. If that's your sort of thing, then maybe you'll love Click, and bless you for doing so. I myself simply wanted to fast-forward through it.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Thor (2011)

by Steve Kochems

A recent trip overseas graced me with the fortune of it becoming both business and pleasure. The question I wondered though was, which one would Marvel's Thor be?

In a preview I posted a few weeks ago, I said, based on what we'd seen thus far from the God of Thunder, that it would probably be as good as The Incredible Hulk (not an insult, but not a big compliment either). I worried about it becoming too campy or difficult to place in reality because of it's fantastical content, unlike the luxuries Iron Man or Batman Begins had.

But that being said.... I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with what Kenneth Branagh was able to do with the first installment with the mighty Thor. He juggles the two different worlds quite nicely and brings out some really good scenes where the two worlds inevitably clash (namely Thor's first few hours on Earth).

To be brief, the film follows the eager and juvenile Thor is thrust down to Earth after reigniting a war with the Frost Giants. Down here with us mortals, Thor must change and grow up so that he can be "worthy to possess the power of Thor."

Okay, that's incredibly brief but I don't want to spoil too much. The biggest positives of this film are fortunately the two most important characters: Thor and Loki. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston were outstanding choices. Hemsworth is every bit as blindly arrogant as Hiddleston is deceptive and cunning and both make some major changes from the start to the end of the film.

On the flip side, I found the two Oscar winners in this cast to be on the blander side. At times Odin (Anthony Hopkins) can blow you away with his explosive temper and fury, but skates through other scenes as if it were cold out and his arthritis was acting up. In the same sense, Natalie Portman brings some youthful energy to some of her scenes but never really seems like the brilliant scientist Jane Foster is trying to be. These gripes though do take a backseat because for the most part these two are always on screen with either Hemsworth or Hiddleston, both who save even some of the blander scenes.

One major concern many people had for this was how it would play in with The Avengers. I don't entirely agree with the majority of people who say secondary characters like Black Widow and Nick Fury bogged down Iron Man 2 and I would say the same about this film here. Agent Coulson gets way more screen time than we've seen before but it all stays relegated into the story. Plus, fanboys get a few easter eggs, some obvious and some you need to listen a little closer for (Bruce Banner shout out).

Ironically, I was quite surprised by the end of the film, so far as how it correlates with what would be the next immediate film in the story of Thor (i.e. The Avengers). Though, by the time Marvel had greenlit the script for this film they were well aware of what would come next for the Norse God, so I have to assume they know what they're doing.

Unfortunately I can't say that I was really blown away by Thor. It was certainly a good movie and I'd see it again, but it brought very little to the table that wasn't expected. It didn't dig deep into a concrete theme or struggle for any character really, with Hiddleston clearly being the only one really trying to go there. However, if you're in the mood for some absurd action with a little magic, Thor might be right up your alley.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5