Don't grab that remote; 'Click' comes out all right

The new Sandler flick is sophomoric in places, but touching in others.
By DAVID GERMAIN
AP MOVIE WRITER
Adam Sandler is stuck between the boys' locker room and the teachers' lounge.
His latest comedy, "Click," overflows with the juvenile hijinks that made Sandler the cinematic god of idiocy among 13-year-old boys of all ages. The movie also ventures into the adult territory Sandler has tentatively mined with "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Spanglish."
Locker room Sandler reigns in the first half of "Click," a fantasy about an overworked architect who's given a remote control that allows him to magically take command of his messy home and office life.
Teachers' lounge Sandler takes over for much of the last half, and he manages to wring genuine pathos out of a character who comes to regret taking the easy way out as the remote leaves his life in ruins.
The result is an Adam Sandler movie that works -- to a degree -- for just about everyone.
Eclectic cast
It's an OK date flick along with a comedy for people who love to see a man kicked repeatedly in the groin. It's a movie for sitcom nostalgics, presenting a lovable old married couple played by Julie Kavner (Valerie Harper's sister on "Rhoda" and the voice of Marge Simpson) and Henry Winkler (the Fonz himself from "Happy Days").
It has a strong ogle quotient, with Kate Beckinsale looking like the world's hottest housewife. It lets Christopher Walken cut loose with another of those comedically menacing performances for which he has such a knack.
It even has David Hasselhoff for fans still in denial that "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" are no longer on the air.
But first and foremost, it's an Adam Sandler movie, and that means plenty of mean-spirited Three Stooges-style mayhem, abrupt slaps upside the head and one of the grossest flatulence gags ever.
Plot
Sandler's character, Michael Newman, is wildly inconsistent for much of the movie, one moment an ideal husband to Donna (Beckinsale) and perfect boyish dad to their adorable young son and daughter, the next an insensitive lout (OK, so maybe that's another sign that Sandler's maturing into the typical adult male).
Michael's a hotshot hoping to make partner at his architectural firm, bowing to the excessive demands of his ladies man boss (Hasselhoff). The job continually strains Michael's family life, and his perpetual inability to figure out which of the remotes strewn about the living room controls what finally drives him to go shopping for a device to run all his electronics.
At a Bed, Bath & amp; Beyond, he wanders into a murky netherzone where weird salesman Morty (Walken) who gives Michael a prototype remote control that not only runs electronics, but also his life.
Michael's able to fast-forward through unpleasant moments, freeze-frame people and go back and review his past. But soon the remote adapts to Michael's "preferences," hurling him into a loop in which the device is controlling him and his future begins to slip away.
'Like channel-surfing'
The screenplay by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe offers some clever moments early on, including an amusing joke about James Earl Jones' voice-over work when Michael discovers there's running audio commentary for his life.
But the first hour of "Click" often is so tiresomely sub-moronic that it's surprising director Frank Coraci -- who made Sandler's "The Wedding Singer" and "The Waterboy" -- is able to pull out a movie that shows real heart at the end.
Ultimately, "Click" is like channel-surfing. You bounce from "Big Daddy" to "It's a Wonderful Life," "Happy Gilmore" to "A Christmas Carol," "Billy Madison" to "The Twilight Zone."
At least the channel never switches to anything as bad as Sandler's "Little Nicky."
The eclectic soundtrack is a highlight, ranging from Frank Sinatra and the Captain and Tennille to Peter Frampton and Gwen Stefani. Watch for Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries as a wedding singer doing a torch-song rendition of her band's hit "Linger."
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