Click (2006 film)

Plot

Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is a hardworking architect, married to his longtime sweetheart, Donna Newman (Kate Beckinsale) with two children, Ben and Samantha. Michael is easily pushed around by his overbearing boss, John Ammer (David Hasselhoff), and often chooses work over family. While going in search of a universal remote control at the retail store Bed Bath & Beyond, Michael falls onto a bed and then proceeds to the section marked "Beyond". He befriends a mysterious man named Morty (Christopher Walken), who gives him the remote control for free and warns him that it can never be returned.

To Michael's amazement, he finds that this remote can actually control time and space, as if reality were a television program. He can revisit past memories, lower volume of surrounding noise, and freeze or fast forward through time. At first, Michael uses the remote to have fun, but then starts to use it for his benefit. He uses its universal language adaptor to interpret for foreign clients or to relive moments from his childhood. During a camping trip in Lake Winnipesaukee, his parents had a barbeque, but the other kids had declined his invitation in favor of another family that was better off. This affected Michael's adult personality; he is determined to succeed in order to avoid raising his family in the same squalor his parents did. Morty attempts to explain the error of Michael's work ethic, and reminds him to not to take Donna for granted by showing some of Michael's past girlfriends who were homely or had awful personalities. However, Michael ultimately uses the remote to skip quarrels with Donna, to avoid suffering a cold by skipping to the point at which he recovers, and to skip a family dinner in order to finish an important project. Later, Morty reveals that when Michael fast-forwards through time, his body is on "auto-pilot", meaning his mind skips ahead while his body goes through the motions of everyday life. After seeing his children upset that he cannot afford new bicycles he promised for them, Michael decides to use the remote to fast forward to when Ammer delivers on his promised partnership, but learns that it was one whole year ahead. Michael finds out that, during the span of that year, he entered marriage counseling; his children prefer to watch CSI instead of Dragon Tales; and he missed the death of his dog. To make matters worse, the remote begins fast-forwarding on its own, as a feature that would automatically follow Michael's preferences based on how he used it. Michael's various attempts to dispose of or destroy the remote fail, giving him the resolve to regain agency of his life.

The next day, Ammer tells Michael he is retiring and suggests that one day Michael may end up CEO. Momentarily forgetting his plan to outfox the remote, Michael says he would like to end up CEO; the remote reacts accordingly and fast-forwards to the year 2017. In the future Michael has achieved everything he wished, and is now the new CEO of the company after Ammer moves to Morocco with Donna's best friend, Janine (Jennifer Coolidge). Michael has all the material wealth and luxuries he could ever want, albeit at the cost of his family's state. Michael has become very unhealthy over the ten years causing him to become obese and discovers he resides in a penthouse by himself. After discovering his new life, and unaware that he and Donna have been divorced, Michael wishes to go back to his house, and the remote fast forwards him there. However, when he returns to his old house Michael is resented by everyone in his family and realizes the divorce. He also discovers that Donna has married Bill, who coached Ben's swim team. While visiting his family, Michael meets Ben who is now an overweight teenager with self-esteem issues from copying his father's eating habits and Samantha who has grown into a beautiful young lady, but moody with similar attitude problems like Ben's. He then fights with Donna and Bill, before confronting Morty who reveals his life choices caused him to become an overweight workaholic who neglected his family. The new family dog then pounces on him, causing him to fall and hit his head on a brick wall, knocking him into a coma.

Having "learned" from Michael when he skipped his cold, the remote fast forwards through Michael's coma and transports him to 2023, where he has finally woken up. Michael had suffered a heart attack while in a coma, but is no longer obese. Ben is also in shape and is now Michael's partner. Michael is devastated when Ben tells him his father Ted (Henry Winkler) has died, and Michael, while visiting his father's grave, tries to use the remote to go to the moment when Ted was on his deathbed, but Morty appears, saying that it will not take him there; the time travel function only works for events Michael was physically present. Michael uses the remote to take him to the point when he last saw Ted alive, which is when Ted made an impromptu visit to his son's and grandson's office. Michael sees that, while on auto-pilot, he had remained emotionally distant, and brusquely rejected his father's offer for a night out with him. Even coldly telling Ted, that he "always knew", when Ted said he would teach Michael the infamish coin trick (something that Ted is extremely prideful of). Heartbroken, Ted walked away with Ben. Although aghast, Michael "pauses" Ted to get in his last words and tell his unaware father that he loves him too and will miss him.

At the graveyard, Morty reveals he is in fact the Angel of Death. Upset with his life, Michael begs to go to a "good place", and fast forwards to Ben's wedding in the year 2029. Although Michael is glad, he also sees Samantha calling Bill "Dad", and the shock triggers a second heart attack. When Michael awakens in a hospital wing, Morty appears and tells him that he has chosen his path and is powerless to do anything about it. Michael's family arrives, and Ben tells his dad their business is in trouble, so he has cancelled his honeymoon to leave temporarily and patch things up. Michael tries to tell Ben it isn't fair for him to neglect his wife, but to no avail. After Ben and Samantha leave, Michael struggles out of the bed and feebly chases after them. Not wanting Ben to make the same mistakes he did, Michael tries to reach Ben before he leaves for his flight. Although Morty protests that Michael will die unless he goes back to the hospital, Michael insists he needs to speak his last words to his family. Michael reaches his family and collapses, but manages to convince Ben that family must come first; he reassures the others that he still loves them, and Morty approaches to take him. The family weeps as Michael dies.

Michael wakes up in the bed onto which he had collapsed at Bed Bath & Beyond, convinced that the events have all been a crazy dream. As he wakes up he sees a store employee (Nick Swardson), who earlier said he had no friends, so Michael picks him up and throws him onto the bed in a playful manner. He cheerfully drives through town and reminds his parents that his door is always open for them. When he arrives back at his own home, he finds the remote on the kitchen counter along with a note by Morty, who says "good guys need a break". Michael now realizes his experience was not a dream, but a warning. He throws the remote in the trash, and it does not reappear, indicating that he has ultimately made the right choice. The film ends with Michael offering to play with his kids.

Production

On February 15, 2003, Frank Coraci was hired and set to direct Click. Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe wrote the script for the film. Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo and Neal H. Moritz produced the film with the budget of $82.5 million for release in 2006. On March 11, 2004, it was announced that Adam Sandler, Emilio Cast, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, Henry Winkler, Julie Kavner, Sean Astin, Jennifer Coolidge, Sophie Monk, Michelle Lombardo, Joseph Castanon, Jonah Hill, Jake Hoffman, Danielle Tatum McCann, Lorraine Nicholson, Katie Cassidy, Cameron Monaghan, Rachel Dratch, Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider and Billy Slaughter joined the film. James Earl Jones joined the cast on March 14 to play himself and the narrator. On April 8, 2005, it was announced that Rupert Gregson-Williams would compose the music for the film. In May 8, Columbia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film. Click was filmed at Shreveport, Louisiana.

The film's plot is similar to a story from the Goosebumps book series, also entitled "Click", which was made into an episode of the franchise's television series in 1997. The content of the show prompted widespread discussion over whether the material was influential or borrowed for the 2006 film.

Release

The film screened out of competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 32% based on 167 reviews. The average score is a 4.7 out of 10, and the consensus is: "This latest Adam Sandler vehicle borrows shamelessly from It's a Wonderful Life and Back to the Future, and fails to produce the necessary laughs that would forgive such imitation." Metacritic gave it a score of 45 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Click grossed $137,355,633 in the United States and $100,325,666 internationally, with a total gross of $237,681,299 worldwide.

Awards and nominations