Opening Day: 25 December 2008

Synopsis:

An adventure comedy starring Adam Sandler as Skeeter Bronson, a hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it's the kids' unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter's life upside down.

Movie Review:

As this reviewer pens this review, he wonders if he has messed too much with the Zohan, so much so that he can’t recognize Adam Sandler’s signature comedic personality in his latest big screen starring role. Where is the cheeky slapstick Sandler is known for? Where are the jokes filled with sexual connotations? Where have the toilet humors gone to? This movie is produced by the Sandler founded film production company Happy Madison, which also brought you outrageous comedies like 50 First Dates (2004), I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007), and of course, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (2008).

Wait, is this movie distributed by Walt Disney Pictures? Then it all makes sense – expect wholesome family material, although we have Sandler headlining the movie.

Adam Shankman (Hairspray) directs this family friendly affair which tells the story of a hotel janitor (Sandler trying his best to look like a common folk) who looks after his sister’s children, and in a magical turn of events, the bedtime stories he tells them becomes true in real life. The thing is, the children control the outcome of the stories, which means that, if our hero wants to make his dreams come true, he’d need to steer the stories in a direction that work in his favour.

With a story plot like that, you can expect the familiar Disney themes of being valiant and true to yourself, being optimistic whenever things don’t turn out well, and of course, a happy ending which you can see the moment the movie begins. In fact, if you are a movie trailer addict, this comedy’s trailer would have given you, well, more than a glimpse of what you can expect. Bring on the horse riding hero living in the medieval times! Bring on the carriage helming hero living in ancient Rome! Bring on the scooter ride hoarding hero living in outer space!

While the above make believe scenarios are eye candy for the kids, more cynical adults may regard them as an obvious gimmick to show off the computer wizardry of today’s technology. Sure, Sandler may look like he is enjoying himself traveling from world to world, bringing a on cameo appearance by his Happy Madison friend Rob “Deuce Bigalow” Schneider, but do not expect out of this world outrageousness from these folks. In fact, the antics they play out may even deem too tame for the street savvy teenager.

So how do fellow cast members fare? There’s Keri Russell who plays the “first we are loggerheads but we’ll eventually fall in love” female lead – she is more capable than that, we’d think. Then there’s the underrated Guy Pearce who is ceremoniously wasted in the role of an unremarkable villain who barely makes his presence felt. Other familiar names like Courtney Cox (is her older sister character recycled from Friends’ Monica?), Lucy Lawless (we prefer her as Xena, really) and Jonathan Pryce (what’s he doing in a family friendly movie like this?) pop up along the way, distracting you from the “been there done that” fairy tale fantasy. So, it is up to Russell Brand’s goofy hotel employee (the wacky dude from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and a big eyed hamster named Bugsy (truth be told, this rodent is just there to make viewers go “aww, so cute!”) to steal the show from the bland casting.

To be fair, this 100 minute movie does have occasional charms that to have you understand the true meaning of love, understanding and being true to yourself. It even comes with a happy ending to highlight the importance of that – oh, you mean there was a part of you which thought that this movie may actually bring on an ending which reminds you of our imperfect lives?

Movie Rating:



(Leave all cynicism at the door to soak in the family friendly fantasy)

Review by John Li