Movie Reviews 6-28-06

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Click

Starring Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Sean Astin

Rated PG-13

You gotta see this if: You long to see a hobbit in a tiny red Speedo.

final analysis: * Rewind to 1998’s “The Wedding Singer.” Rewind further to 1984’s “Back to the Future.” Rewind once more to 1951’s “A Christmas Carol.” Pause. “Click” borrows themes from all of these movies and mangles them. Now fast forward into the future to Adam Sandler’s next movie. Hopefully it will be better than this one. “Click” features Sandler as a stressed, mean-spirited workaholic who never takes the time to smell the roses with his wife and two children. One night, he visits a Bed, Bath & Beyond in search of a universal remote control and is led into the Beyond section by Christopher Walken channeling Christopher Lloyd. The remote he buys has the power to control his life but not necessarily his electronics. It’s an interesting if unoriginal premise, unfortunately ruined by the protagonist’s selfishness and stupidity. Worse, there are no rules of logic applied to the remote. It seems able to do anything that will deliver a punchline. Like the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, the clicker ultimately shows Sandler the error of his ways, but it never showed me an entertaining movie.

Nacho Libre

Starring Jack Black, Héctor Jiménez, Ana de la Reguera. Rated PG

You gotta see this if: You’ve ever consumed an entire can of Cheese Wiz in one sitting.

final analysis: ** Is flatulence really that funny? My 4-year-old thinks it is, but I don’t take him to the kinds of movies that place bodily functions on the altar of comedy. “Nacho Libre” embraces bodily functions like a litter box, as well as countless other gags, stereotypes, and incongruous catchphrases. It’s disappointing because the flick has its bright spots: the actors portray their goofy characters with skill, and the dusty Mexican scenery shows a lot of local charm. But most of the gags fall as flat as Nacho when he face plants in the wrestling ring. The story portrays a Mexican monk who dreams of being a Lucholibrador, a type of masked wrestler, and he begins to wrestle in secret, earning money to feed the orphans in the monastery. At times, Nacho’s antics are gut-bustingly funny, however, just as often, the humor is offensive and disjointed. It feels forced instead of flowing naturally from the situation. On second thought, perhaps the potty humor is appropriate, after all, that’s what you get from too much cheese.

Cars

Starring Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt

Rated G

You gotta see this if: You blame Disney for making you sit through “The Wild.”

final analysis: **** Pixar films are always a breath of fresh air. It’s the only animation studio that know how to make a gorgeous, lovingly rendered film without sacrificing a good story or littering the screen with stereotyes and pop culture. I know when I go to see a Pixar movie that I’ll have as good a time as my child. And though “Cars” didn’t wow me quite as much as “The Incredibles,” it’s still an impressive piece of filmmaking. It’s the story of a hotshot racecar, Lightning McQueen, on his way to California to compete for the coveted Piston Cup. Unexpectedly, the single-minded car gets sidetracked on route in the roadside town of Radiator Springs where he meets a colorful cast of cars and learns a lesson about friendship and Americana. I actually teared up a few times and laughed throughout. And, of course, the animation is unsurpassed. The desert sunsets, the way the lights reflect off the cars’ shiny surfaces, the attention to every aesthetic detail left me in awe. Pixar is the Ferrari of CGI animation and, lucky for us, we don’t have to pay a higher ticket price. Vrrrooooommmm!