released February 29, 2016

beib, pcl, This is a personal analysis of the film "Click", If you're looking for a short review of "It's great" or "it sucks", look elsewhere, and don't bother reading any further. If you want a more thoughtful type of review, then please continue. I strive to write thoughtful critiques, and that is what this review is, it is not short, and it is not intended to be because "Click" is a tricky film to review, it's not as great as some indicate it is, but not as bad as others indicate it is either.

The fundamental problem with this film, at times, is it's juvenile humor, however, as a Happy Madison's production, that is almost mandatory, and based on that expectation, it is not excessive, when compared to some of Sandler's other films such as "Happy Gilmnore" or even "Waterboy". When the film sticks to the core plot and leaves out much of the silly low brow humor (with a few exceptions, such as the scene with his wife's crazy friend Janene, or the scene with the Japanese businessmen), it really excels, as the characters are actually interesting and other than the silly humor, the relationships feel real. When the film hits emotionally, it hits hard, and yet at the same time, if you were to take this humor out, it would be a rather mundane, rote, and over sentimental film with just another take on "A Christmas Carol" or "It's a Wonderful Life", so one could argue the humor actually elevates it.

There are a lot of themes in this film that I have yet to see touched upon in the reviews here. Yes, it plays in to the whole 'Spend time with family bit,' but on a deeper level then I normally see in films especially in a comedy. It deeply comments on how people have a tendency to follow the example they see, and not what they hear. This is aptly exhibited through his daughters use of vulgarities and his son's poor eating habits; both things they watched their father do. We also see this exhibited through some changes in his son later on when those bad eating habits are changed to good habits through the influence of his health nut stepfather (Sean Astin).

A constant recurring theme in this film is struggle of money vs time, which we can see started when he was a child in a flashback camping scene, with a rivalry from childhood (we only see this rival in a flashback, in the present we only see his son and wife). His rival's son is constantly gloating about all the "cool" stuff he has, and Sandler's character is very immature, like he has never grown out of that rivalry (cause he has not), and even results to picking on his rival's son, which at times is funny, such as the time his son and the kid our playing catch and he pauses it and moves his glove so the ball hits him in the face.

It is truly sad that this man never truly grew up, and what the experience with the remote gives him, is a chance to finally mature in to an adult mentally and emotionally. I would like to say there are not people like this in real life, but I have met them, still stuck in the past, still striving for things in the wrong way, and scared and hurting people in their path out of habit. The only good thing he took with him as hew grew up was his dream of being financially free (which is a great dream to have), but again, he takes the wrong road to achieve it, by constantly trying to bend over backwards and please his boss at the peril of his personal life and family's happiness.

It also comments on the pitfalls of a job (something which the American school system programs us to have, rather than say, owning a business and creating a passive cash flow) and how we become controlled by them. His wife at one point even calls him a 'wage slave', which I found to be a very apt description of someone climbing up the corporate ladder. He is constantly chasing a dream that can't happen with a job, it is not possible to have both time and money in a corporate world.

Although he is seeking to gain time by losing it in the short term through working hard to move up the corporate ladder. His idea is to get a residual income, the problem is, he is trying to do it through a job, he states to his wife, when he is making millions he will hire a bunch of ppl to do everything for him, but he is using the wrong means to do so, he needs a passive cash flow, not an active one such as job for that, and is neglecting his key relationships in the process, which is the real folly he commits here.

He constantly equates corporate success with freedom, and is constantly comparing himself to a childhood rival who 'Has it all.' Instead of just realizing he has it good with his Wife and kids, and actually has a really nice house and life if he'd just see what's in front of him (not that its bad to strive for more, but that plan should be a team effort of the family, not a solo effort, if you are married), but he cannot see it, due to his constant focus on other women, other ppl's money, and why he doesn't like his life, something that most people do, and it is this focus on others and blaming others for our problems that keeps us as humans from ever truly being satisfied.

The film doesn't say money is bad or that success is bad, but rather, when that journey neglects your family, it's not a path worth taking. The film aptly shows how marriages suffer when you lose your focus on why (getting more time with your family) you're doing something and the how (the how here being climbing the corporate ladder here) becomes the why instead of the why being the why.

ALERT COULD BE A SPOILER:
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Some see the ending as a co-pout, and yes, it is, but by the end of the film the first time I saw it, I saw it as a great relief, as I was nearly hysterically crying the first time I saw it and it allowed me to appreciate what came before without being morbidly depressed, but on repeated viewings, not watching the ending after the sad denouement, might make the film better. I am torn, as to if it it hadn't ended that way, would it have put the focus on his failures instead of how he could change his life around, but if it ended with him lying face up (I suppose it'd be a lot like the ending to the 'Bridge to Terrabithia'), might it have changed the overall message of the film? Given the often light-hearted tone, the ending was congruent with keeping this tone, and the ending was not actually out of character for a film of this nature(13 Going on 30 had a similar ending, but it definitely worked better in the overall scheme of the film), one in which the point was to make you laugh, but hopefully think a little as well.

I will say, on repeated viewings, I actually think in a way, since this movie is about choices, and in a ay he forgoes all of his ability to have an active choice until he chooses to die, to to make things right, it makes sense to start over, it is almost like it as a test. So when chooses to never take the remote in the end, I'm not really sure it is a cop-out at all. It may appear that way at first, but he makes things the way they should have been, and this film does its job, when a need a good reminder to put my priorities right, I watch this.

END SPOILER
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Although surprisingly contemplative and thought provoking at times, it is the ever persistent silly tone that both makes this stand out in the cannon of films of this nature, but also might keep it from being truly great, and why it will most likely never become a classic, although it is worth watching if you can can enjoy the silly jokes and the core message resonates with you.

God Bless ~Amy