Click (film)
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| Click | |
|---|---|
 Film poster for Click |
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| Directed by | Frank Coraci |
| Written by | Mark O'Keefe Steve Koren |
| Starring | Adam Sandler Kate Beckinsale David Hasselhoff Sophie Monk Christopher Walken |
| Music by | Rupert Gregson-Williams |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  June 22, 2006 June 23, 2006 September 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Language | (English) |
| Budget | US$70,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Click is a 2006 Academy Award-nominated comedy/drama/fantasy film directed by Frank Coraci. Click tells the story of overworked Michael Newman (Adam Sandler), an architect so wrapped up in his job because of his boss (David Hasselhoff), that his family is forced to take the backseat. He gets a "universal remote" from an eccentric engineer named Morty (Christopher Walken), and finds he can literally control the universe around him. It began filming in late-2005 and was finished by early-2006.
The screenplay is written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe.
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[edit] Synopsis
Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is a loving family man who just wants to be promoted to his boss John Ammer's partner in an architectural firm so that he can spend more time with his wife Donna and kids Ben and Samantha. Late one night, after arguing with Donna and having trouble locating his TV remote control, he gets angry and drives to Best Buy and Staples to buy a universal remote control. Finding both stores closed, he enters the still open Bed, Bath and Beyond. Being so tired from work and home, he collapses on a display bed and relaxes. Then, looking up, he makes his way to the "Beyond" section, where he meets Morty (Christopher Walken), an eccentric inventor. Morty takes Michael to the "Way Beyond" storeroom and gives him a one-of-a-kind universal remote control, which Michael believes to be an ordinary remote. He is warned by Morty that it is "non-returnable."
To Michael's amazement, he finds out that the remote is literally universal: it controls the universe, and interprets his wishes, even learning to anticipate them. It allows him to alter time and reality. After having some fun with it, he decides to do something serious and fast-forward to the promotion that he thought to be three months away. When he fast-forwards, fourteen months go by instead. When discovering this, he refers to Ammer by saying, "It took that bastard a year to promote me?" The remote is "smart", and self-programming based on past experiences. The remote is automatically programmed (by his usage of it) to skip or fast-forward through sickness, foreplay, showering, traffic, arguments with Donna, and promotions. In each case, he is alive but on "autopilot" during the interim, so he has no conscious experience of what happened. When he figures out that is the way the remote has been programmed, he tries to destroy it, but it keeps regenerating somewhere on his body.
Michael goes to work by bicycle wearing his bathrobe to avoid automatically fast-forwarding through traffic or showering. When he arrives at work on his first day as his ex-boss's business partner, Ammer queries his lax dress-code and is convinced by his explanation. Ammer calls him a revolutionary man and says "You might even be CEO of this company some day." After that, he winds up being fast-forwarded ten years to the year 2017, where he finds drastic changes have happened in his life: Donna has divorced him and married Ben's former swimming instructor Bill; he's become grossly overweight from a constant junk food diet; and, on arriving at his home, he finds Ben has followed his example and started gaining weight too, while Samantha is a skimpily dressed party girl type. Later, he and Donna begin to argue, so Michael's remote then fast-forwards him another six years into the future, to the year 2023, but not before being knocked unconscious by the dog which has replaced his previous pet. Having had a medical check because of his concussion and having been diagnosed with cancer, he is fast forwarded through a period of serious sickness. When he wakes to consciousness after his sickness, he is no longer fat, but flabby after liposuction, which he underwent because, as Donna points out, he was the only man ever to actually gain weight on chemotherapy. Later, he finds out that Ted, his father, has died. He rewinds to when they last met, and finds he acted very rudely to his father, with a hurtful remark about how he always knew the secret of the old man's lifelong parlor trick, which was seemingly biting off a piece of a coin and (somehow) putting it back on. He fast forwards to stand at his father's gravestone. A particularly crucial moment arrives when Morty reveals his true identity: the Angel of Death. He then says he is sorry to have taken Michael's father's life.
Michael then fast forwards seven years into the future, to arrive at Ben's wedding in 2030. There, he hears Samantha calling Bill "Dad" and is overcome with a heart attack. He passes out and awakens – still in 2030 – in a hospital, with his kids by his side. Ben informs him that his and his wife Julie's own honeymoon will have to take a backseat until his situation at work is under control. Michael immediately becomes fearful of his son going down the same path as himself. He tears himself off his lifesaving instruments (despite Morty's warning) and walks out to catch up with and warn Ben of the possible consequences should he continue to prioritize work over family. However, the strain is too much, and Michael ends up collapsing. His family spot his prone form and rush to his side; surrounded by them, Michael lies dying in the street while it is raining. Not before reconciling with his family and having Donna tell him she still loves him and sticking up "the finger" at Bill (then changing it to an "O.K." sign), Michael dies...
There is a brilliant white flash, and Michael then wakes up back on the bed in Bed, Bath and Beyond – thinking that everything that has happened was a dream. Michael is so happy to be back that he drives to his parents' house, tells his dad that he loves him and he wants to know how he does the coin trick. He then goes home, tells Donna, Ben and Samantha he loves them and that they are going on a 4th July camping trip as a family. Michael finds the familiar remote control on his kitchen counter, with an attached note from Morty stating "Michael, like I said, good guys need a break. I know you'll do the right thing this time. P.S. Your wife's rocking body still drives me crazy." This shows that in fact, it was not all a dream, but Morty rewound Michael's life back to this point to give him another chance. Michael now knows exactly what to do with the remote: he chucks it in the garbage, and to his relief it doesn't reappear. He then calls to his family if they want to have a pillow fight...
[edit] Remote features
The film shows that the remote control’s features include:
- Pause
- Causes everyone and everything but Michael (and Morty, near the end of the film) to freeze in place. Michael sometimes assaults people while they are paused; they feel sudden pain and suspect nothing.
- Fast forward
- Can be used to accelerate other people or the family dog (who apparently do not notice this change). When used on Michael’s life, puts him on auto-pilot during the skipped interval. (While on auto-pilot, Michael cannot change his habits. His wife notices when he has been on auto-pilot for a long period, but nobody else does.)
- Rewind
- Cannot undo anything, but allows Michael to revisit (without changing) the past. The Michael with the remote control is separate from the Michael in the revisited time period and can walk in and around the revisited scene unnoticed. It is revealed in the graveyard scene that Michael can only rewind to scenes in which he was present at that time.
- Volume control
- Used to silence a barking dog (who apparently does not notice his bark being suppressed).
- Language selection
- Options include, but are not limited to English, Spanish and Japanese. Produces a perfect translation, unlike the garbled output of real machine translators. Michael uses this in combination with volume control to eavesdrop on prospective Japanese clients and learn what they think of his proposal; this helps him win their account. He also uses this to break the tedium of a sexual harassment seminar by switching everyone’s language, including his own, to Spanish. (Michael is the only one aware of either change.)
- Color adjustment
- Michael experiments with this on his own complexion. He has a bit of fun by changing his skin color to Green, Purple and Yellow (Green being the Hulk, Purple being Barney, and Yellow being Scurvy). Seems to work only with hue (although the saturation increases greatly during his experimentation). Other people notice his "tan."
- Aspect ratio selection
- Choices are normal, wide and panoramic. Michael uses this to make his boss much shorter and fatter; his voice also changes correspondingly. (No one but Michael is aware of the change.)
- Main menu
- This includes scene selection and bonus features such as a making-of and a running commentary (voiced by James Earl Jones).
- Picture in Picture
- Michael uses this while Janine is complaining. When the button is pressed, a picture of Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees hitting a two run home run shows up at the bottom right corner of the screen (only Michael can see this).
- Mute
- Similar to the volume control but much faster. It is shown when the man (played by Terry Crews) in the Chevrolet Corvette C6 is singing annoyingly and loudly to Working for the Weekend and Michael Newman smiles and presses mute and chuckles at him after he has no sound.
- Memory
- The remote remembers your actions with the remote and will automatically act according to your previous using of the remote. For example, when Michael tells the remote to fast forward through a cold, the remote remembers this and automatically fast forwards through any sickness. This proves to be one of the major problems of the movie as Michael gets cancer and is automatically fast forwarded 6 years. It also remembers your actions in life so the remote immediately "knows" how to make yourself act when in auto-pilot.
[edit] Similarities to It's a Wonderful Life
This film was deemed by critics a "21st Century remake of It's a Wonderful Life". If this were true, then this film would've been Adam Sandler's second remake of a Frank Capra film, his first being Mr. Deeds. Here is a list of the similarities:
- Both Michael and George desire something more from their respective careers/jobs.
- Both Michael and George get angry at their children before they experience life without them.
- Both Clarence and Morty are angels. They also both have the power to pop up at anytime, anywhere.
- Both Clarence and Morty give George and Michael the answer that shows them what their lives are really like. For George, it's the glimpse to see what the world would be like without him. For Michael, it's a glimpse of what his life will become if he doesn't stop putting his job ahead of his family.
- Both Michael and George don't believe what's happening to them after they meet Morty and Clarence.
- Both Michael and George see their wives before they return to their normal lives.
- The sequence of Michael celebrating his return back to his normal life is extremely similar to the way George celebrated when he returned back to Bedford Falls: they both hug the first person they meet after they realize all is normal and they both slap and are happy to see their cars again.
- Both Michael and George get a note from their angels at the end of the movies.
[edit] Cast
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* Not credited on-screen.
[edit] Box office and Oscar Nomination
As of August 17, 2006, Click has grossed US$135,105,606 in the USA and US$20,611,901 outside the USA, with a total gross of US$155,717,507.
It earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup, making it the first ever film starring Adam Sandler to receive a nomination.
[edit] References to other media
- The O'Doyle family in the movie is a reference to the family in Billy Madison.
- In the flashback to Michael and Donna's first kiss, Janine is wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt. This would have to mean their first kiss took place in at least the early-1990s as The Simpsons products had yet to be marketed before, and also because Michael and Donna's song, "Linger" by The Cranberries, was released in 1993. Also, a Metallica poster is seen in the background. That particular font type for the logo wasn't used until the Load album came out meaning their first kiss must have happened in or after 1995.
- Also, one bar patron is shown wearing a Misfits patch on his jacket.
- In the same flashback, Michael wears a J. Geils Band T-shirt. Sandler sang one of their songs ("Love Stinks") in The Wedding Singer.
- Micheal changes the color of his skin to the Hulk and then to Barney.
- When Michael first uses the menu function on the remote, the theme song from The Price is Right can be heard. Adam Sandler had previously had a memorable fight scene with The Price is Right host Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore as well as a cameo appearance on the show in 1996.
- There is scene in the Family Guy episode, "North by North Quahog" where Peter Griffin goes to the "Beyond" section of Bed, Bath and Beyond. However, as mentioned in the commentary on the DVD, the script for this movie was written at least a year before that episode of Family Guy aired.
- The song Terry Crews is singing in the traffic scene where Michael turns down the his voice is "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy.
- After Michael's fast forward to his promotion, his children prefer to watch CSI over Dragon Tales, now that they've aged.
- When Michael drives from his office to his old home in 2017, the news on the car radio mentions both Britney Spears and Michael Jackson. According to the reports, Britney has given birth to her twenty-third baby, and her husband Kevin Federline is now considering getting a job. (Even though Britney and Kevin divorced in late 2006, it appears that they made up and are now back together. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson, who apparently in 2017 was the first man to clone himself, is suing himself for molesting himself!
[edit] Trivia
- The Bed, Bath and Beyond that is used for exterior shots is located in Hawthorne, California.
- Most scenes takes place in 2006, 2007, 2017, 2023 and 2030. Various flashbacks take place in other years including the 1970s.
- Michael initially believes that the effects of the remote are hallucinations fueled by cough syrup.
- Rob Schneider makes a cameo as Prince Habeeboo (in makeup) in the beginning of the movie. Schneider appears in most of Sandler's films and vice versa. In a deleted scene from the DVD, Prince Habeeboo says "you can do it," a phrase often said by Schneider in cameo appearances in other Adam Sandler films.
- The camping trip was at Lake Winnipesaukee (though it was filmed in northern California). This is an actual lake in New Hampshire. Adam Sandler was raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lake Winnipesaukee is also referenced in Sandler's "Thanksgiving Song."
- The film was shot using the high-definition Genesis (Panavision) camera.
- Winkler previously has collaborated with Sandler in The Waterboy and Little Nicky.
- In the German version, the commentary is said to be spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger and is actually spoken by Thomas Danneberg, who dubs Schwarzenegger in his movies. James Earl Jones is not as famous in Germany.
- Sandler's father's "quarter trick", is the same trick done by David Blaine in his street magic show 1
- When Sandler enters the Bed, Bath and Beyond, he asks if they had a Universal Media remote, which they didn't. Ironically, after the movie came out in theaters, Bed, Bath and Beyond started to sell Universal Media Remotes at their stores.
- The film was actually set in New York City but much of it was shot in Los Angeles, with a few glitches such as seeing palm trees, which cannot grow in New York, along with a dinner with Japanese investors on a rooftop hotel in Manhattan, which was actually a rooftop in central LA. Library Tower is clearly seen several times in the background.
- Drew Barrymore was originally set to play the role of Donna Newman, but later dropped out because of a scheduling conflict and because she had already worked with Adam Sandler twice. Lauren Graham was also offered the role, but turned it down because she was going to shoot the sixth season of Gilmore Girls during the time that Click was going to go into production.
- Morty's name sounds and is written almost like the word "Death" on latin-derived idioms - notably Portuguese and Italian ("Morte") and French ("Mort"), with Spanish sharing a mild resemblance ("Muerte").
[edit] Music
- Air Supply - "Making Love Out of Nothing At All"
- Loverboy - "Working for the Weekend"
- New Radicals - "You Get What You Give"
- T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
- Tears for Fears - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
- The Cars - "Magic"
- Frank Sinatra - "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die"
- The Cranberries - "Linger"
- The Kinks - "Do It Again"
- The Strokes - "Someday"
- U2 - "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"
- Toto - "Hold The Line"
- Gwen Stefani - "Cool"
- The Offspring - "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated) (performed instrumentally by a brass band)"
