Fantasy Comedy With Megastar On Hulu Goes From Silly To Heartbreaking

Click was written by the screenwriting duo of Mark O’Keefe and Steve Koren, who previously collaborated on the screenplay for 2003’s Bruce Almighty. The film was directed by frequent Adam Sandler collaborator Frank Coraci, who helmed such classic turn-of-the-century comedies as The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy. The Adam Sandler movie serves as a loose adaptation of an age-old folktale titled “The Magic Thread,” which sees a boy fast-forwarding through life due to his inability to be happy in the here and now.

As stated, Adam Sandler leads the cast of Click, alongside Kate Beckinsale, Henry Winkler, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, an unrecognizably young Jonah Hill, and Marge Simpson voice actor Julie Kavner. The film sees Sandler taking on the role of Michael Newman, an up-and-coming architect who is frequently passed over by his boss, as he attempts to secure a better future for himself and his children. In an effort to simplify his life, and perhaps offer some front-and-center product placement opportunities, Michael visits Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase a universal remote.

But Michael quickly comes to learn that his remote isn’t just capable of controlling the electronics in his home, as it’s literally a “universal” remote, with otherworldly powers. With a single click of a button, the simple middle-aged man learns that he can pause, rewind, fast forward, and skip scenes from his own life, in between messing with the picture-in-picture and language settings, of course. As you can surely expect, the juvenile Adam Sandler character utilizes the device to goof around and find meaningless forms of self enrichment, before becoming entirely reliant on the remote to survive his day-to-day life.

Before long, Michael sees himself skipping through time to avoid the difficulties of life, such as being passed over for a promotion or having fights about money with his spouse. Unfortunately, Michael comes to learn that the skip function turns him into a shell of a man as far as his family is concerned, and he ultimately winds up missing years of crucial developments in his children’s lives. After offering about an hour of off-the-wall fat jokes, toilet humor, and scenes of a dog getting frisky with a stuffed duck, Click devolves into scenes of an aged Adam Sandler screaming and crying as his adult children lament the fact that he was never there for him, and explain that they don’t see him as a real father.

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Speaking of parenthood, my dad and I were big Adam Sandler fans back in the early 2000’s, and made a ritual out of catching his new releases, despite their silly and over-the-top nature. Obviously, this tear-jerking ending is not what we signed up for we caught this movie in 2006, and to be totally honest with you, I’m getting worked up just thinking about it. While the journey towards Click‘s highly emotional ending is telegraphed from the first use of the remote, it never gets any easier watching Sandler break down as he realizes he failed as a parent, all while trying to do what’s best for his kids’ futures.

Honestly, this movie is kind of impossible to rate. It’s a perfect film if you’re in need of a good cry, though it will certainly ruin the mood if you try to catch it during a casual night-in with some friends. If you’re interested in seeing for yourself, Click is currently streaming on Hulu.