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Click
Year - 2006
Studio - Columbia
Stars - Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, Henry Winkler, David Hasselhoff, Julie Kavner, Sean Astin
Director - Frank Coraci
Writing Credits - Steve Koren, Martin O'Keefe
Music - Rupert Gregson-Williams
Synopsis
Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is an ambitious, workaholic architect in a large NYC firm, where the president, Ammer (David Hasselhoff) holds out the prospect of a partnership if he puts in long hours to meet client demands. Michael has a beautiful, loving wife, Donna (Kate Beckinsale) and children, Ben and Samantha, who are increasingly hurt by the lack of attention from him.
One evening, frustrated from trying to decipher which of the many remote controls operates the family television, Michael drives to the nearest shopping center in search of a universal remote control. With Staples and Best Buy closed for the day, he tries Bed, Bath & Beyond. Not finding anything in the bed or bath sections, he discovers a door at the rear of the store marked "Beyond". Inside is a frizzy-haired attendant in a lab coat, Morty (Christopher Walken) who leads him to a very special universal remote, so new that "it hasn't even been bar-coded yet." Morty gives the device to Michael but warns that it is non-returnable. Michael wonders why he would want to return something that didn't cost him anything.
At home, Michael discovers that the remote actually allows him to control, not the TV, but real life. He can "pause" live action so that only he remains mobile, he can "fast forward" through events, go to specific "chapters" in his life, and even access, like on a DVD, a "making of" documentary about his life (don't ask). He uses the remote to allow him to concentrate on his architectural assignments while fast-forwarding or skipping the boring aspects of his life, including spending time with his wife and children, and dinner with his parents (Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner). When his boss tells him that a partnership with the firm is at least a year away for Michael, he fast forwards through that time until he achieves the promotion. However, the process of ignoring the rest of his life has rendered him, as well as his son, Ben, morbidly obese and Donna has left him for the kids' swim coach, Bill (Sean Astin).
Michael is now wealthy and successful, but desperately lonely and depressed. The universal remote is now controlling his life because it is programmed to go into autoplay from its memory of Michael's traits and preferences. Morty makes periodic appearances, only to remind him that it cannot be returned and when Michael tries to throw it away, it immediately returns to his hand.
He is devastated to learn that he has fast-forwarded past his father's death, and can only re-visit the painful chapter in his life where he last saw his father alive.
At the wedding of his son, Michael suffers a severe heart attack. One of his visitors is Morty, who reveals that he is the "Angel of Death." At his bedside, his son tells him that he has cancelled his honeymoon because of his job demands at the architectural firm where he now also works. As Michael realizes he might still prevent his son from repeating his mistakes, he leaves his bed and joins the family, preparing to depart the hospital on the rainy night. Dying, Michael falls to the street, but whispers to Ben, "Family is first, family is first."
Or, was it all a dream?
Trailer
Except for some typical Sandler sophomoric humor, Click has a pleasant It's a Wonderful Life quality to it.