大象传媒

Be honest now: haven't we all had quite enough of Adam Sandler? The heart sinks when his name appears on a screen, a harbinger of tiresome fratboy humour, wilful ignorance and pointless outbursts of violence. Click has the highest of high concepts: a magical remote control that Sandler can use to fast forward or rewind his life. But this potentially intriguing notion is utterly wasted on fart jokes, fat jokes, smack-on-the-head jokes and soul-sucking sentimentality.

Sandler's character is a modern Ebenezer Scrooge, so devoted to his work as an architect that he neglects his wife Kate Beckinsale and his two adorable kids. Hang on? Sandler? An architect? I'd be more inclined to believe in Paris Hilton as a brain surgeon. Anyway, one night Sandler meets Christopher Walken, playing a retail-park version of Marley's Ghost, who provides him with a remarkable universal remote. At a click of a button, he can relive his past, skip boring conversations, freeze the world and so on. What does he do with this power? Let's see: he fast forwards through sex, freezes his boss (a repellent David Hasselhoff) in order to fart on his face, goes back in time to check out his mother's womb, forces his dog to excrete at triple speed... Getting the idea yet?

"SANDLER'S FAR TOO LOATHSOME"

The gross-out is bad enough, but it is nothing compared to the second half of the film, a nerve shredding attempt to build some sympathy for Sandler's character as his life falls apart. Too late: he's far too loathsome. Heartstrings remain stubbornly unplucked. And who the hell is Sandler to teach us life lessons anyway? When the DVD comes out I'm going to buy it and fast-forward through the whole thing. You know, for vengeance.