Adam Sandler stars as a man with a Remote control for his life.
The Plot: (Spoilers)
Architect Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is so busy he has no time to spend with his wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) and his kids Ben (Joseph Castanon) and Samantha (Tatum McCann). He also has trouble keeping track of all the remote controls in his house. In order to get assigned a lucrative project from his boss (David Hasselhoff), Michael has to cancel the 4th of July camping trip with his family to work on the new project.
Adam Sandler as Michael Newman
Tatum McCann & Joseph Castanon as Samantha & Ben
Kate Beckinsale as Donna
Frustrated with his life, and the remote controls, he heads out late at night to buy a universal remote. The only store he finds open is Bed, Bath and Beyond, where he can’t find any universal remotes. Exhausted, he lays down on a bed. When he rolls over, he spots a door labeled “Beyond.”
Back at home, Michael find the remote turns his TV on without any programming, just as Morty said it would. Donna comes up behind him and asks him if he expects to have any more time for his family when he is more successful. He pauses the TV with the remote to reassure her that when he’s a success he will hire people to do all his work for him. Michael doesn’t notice that the remote froze HER as well. When he unpauses the TV, she unfreezes as well. Later that night as Michael works on the project, his dog Sundance starts barking to go outside. Since the rest of the family is asleep, Michael tells Sundance to be quiet and jokingly points the remote at the dog repeatedly pressing the down volume button. When the remote actually affects Sundance’s volume, Michael assumes that his mind is playing tricks on him due to the cough syrup and junk food he’s been eating. He takes Sundance outside, still carrying the remote, and frustrated while waiting for the dog to do its business, he tests the remote again, pressing fast forward. Sundance speeds up, going through its actions at high speed and remains fast until Michael presses play. This freaks Michael out; he drops the remote and runs upstairs to bed.
The next morning, Donna is being visited by her annoying friend Janine (Jennifer Coolidge). Michael criticizes Janine, which upsets her. Michael sees the remote on the table and presses mute which silences the scene. Michael also discovers a picture in picture feature that allows him to watch a game in a window over real life. Michael goes back to Morty and learns the remote’s power: It’s truly a universal remote, in that it will control Michael’s universe.
Michael uses the remote to fast-forward through his weekend, including dinner with his parents (Henry Winkler & Julie Kavner), his work project and his cold, and later to eavesdrop on the Japanese clients to get inside information, allowing him to land the account and become a partner in the architecture firm he works at. For a moment Michael is happy, but the next day his boss tells him that he won’t get promoted until he finishes all the drawings for the project. Michael is frustrated with the weeks of work that will take and asks the remote to fast-forward him to his promotion, which it does, but Michael discovers it is now a year later. He has missed out on a lot of his family life: his wife feels distant from him (due to his being in “auto-pilot” for a year), his dog has died and his kids, now a year older, have new interests. Even worse, the remote is now fast-forwarding by itself, having “learned” from what Michael has previously fast-forwarded through. Morty doesn’t tell him how to stop the automatic fast-forward and refuses to take the remote back, and Michael can’t get rid of it himself as it keeps reappearing. Michael tries to avoid doing anything that the remote would fast-forward through, only to end up being offered another promotion, which fast-forwards him another 10 years into the future to February 5, 2017, where he finds himself severely overweight.
Michael’s kids have grown into teenagers (played by Jonah Hill & Lorraine Nicholson) and Donna is dating Ben’s old swim coach Bill (Sean Astin). Michael never even made any progress on his kids’ treehouse, which remains in the same half-finished condition as it was 10 years earlier. As a fight starts between him and Donna, he pauses the remote before it can fast-forward again. Morty appears and tells him he still has a chance to win his wife back. Michael writes her a note with what he wants to say and unpauses. He is tackled by the family’s newest dog and knocked down and hits his head.
The remote automatically fast-forwards and Michael wakes up in a hospital bed with Donna looking over him. He learns that it is now six years later. When he hit his head he had to have a cat-scan, which found cancer that the doctors were able to remove, and he has been having liposuction to lose the extra weight. Donna is now married to Bill.
Michael goes back to work, finding that he now owns the architecture firm and was Architect of the Year. His grown son Ben (Jake Hoffman) is now an architect at the firm as well.
Michael learns that his own father has died in the meantime. At the cemetery, Michael tries to rewind to his father’s death, but Morty appears and says that the remote can’t take him there because he wasn’t there. Michael rewinds to the last time he saw his father before he died, at sees him blow him off. Michael pauses the scene and says goodbye to his father. Back at the cemetery, Morty admits that taking Michael’s father wasn’t something he wanted to do. Michael asks what Morty means, and Morty says he’s the angel of death. Upset, Michael has the remote fast-forward to a happy place, and finds himself at his son’s wedding. After muddling through a toast and chatting with his mother, he dances with his ex-wife to their song.
During the dance, he sees grown-up Samantha (Katie Cassidy) call Bill “Dad” and has a heart attack. He fast forwards to find himself lying in a hospital bed, with Morty standing over him. Michael asks Morty why he made him waste his life, and Morty tells him that he was already fast-forwarding through his life before they ever met. Ben and Samantha come to visit, and Michael learns that Samantha waited at the hospital for 36 hours for him to wake up, because he’s her father. When Michael asks about Bill, she says she has two fathers.
Ben mentions that he has a plane to catch and is postponing his honeymoon to go back to work and close an important deal. Ben and Samantha leave and Michael starts disconnecting himself from the hospital machines to follow them, against Morty’s warnings. Outside in the rain, Michael collapses in the street but get’s Ben’s attention at the last minute. Surrounded by his family, he tells Ben “family comes first” and apologizes to Donna. He realizes she still loves him before he dies.
Michael wakes up in the bed at Bed, Bath & Beyond and is shocked to realize that it was all a dream. He goes home and announces to the family that they are going camping as planned. The kids go back to bed and Donna says she’ll be waiting for him upstairs. Michael notices the remote on a table with a note from Morty saying that he knows Michael will do the right thing this time. Michael throws the remote in the trash.
My Review:
There is a great concept here, and for the most part the film makes the most of it. The "twist" that most of the movie was a dream at Bed, Bath & Beyond was pretty obvious, but it slipped from my mind before the end of the movie. This is billed as a comedy, but it is kind of light on the comedy. Although it does have its moments, I found most of the comedy pretty forgettable. Toward the end the tone turns very dramatic, and the film really shines. From the moment Michael hits his head to when he wakes up back in Bed, Bath & Beyond, there is little if any humor, but a lot of drama. The scene where Michael sees the last time he saw his father is a tearjerker.
The casting is excellent, and all the actors seem well-suited to their roles, especially Christopher Walken and David Hasselhoff. Jake Hoffman was convincing as the adult son of Adam Sandler (in reality the actor is the son of Dustin Hoffman). The makeup used to age Sandler and Beckinsale was very convincing. The makeup and effects used to make Sandler fat weren’t as convincing but weren’t distracting either. The special effects related to the remote control were quite good. I particularly liked the menus.
The movie is rated PG-13 “for language, crude & sex-related humor and some drug references.” This isn’t a surprise for a Sandler film, and by Sandler standards it’s pretty tame, but I found most of the PG-13 instances unnecessary as they didn’t really add anything to the movie. I suspect that a recurring joke involving a dog and a large plush duck was a large part of the rating, and I didn’t find it that funny in any of its instances. This film probably could have been made to pass a PG rating and been just as good.
Overall, this isn’t one of Sandler’s funniest comedies but the dramatic elements make it and enjoyable and worthwhile film.
Kate Beckinsale as Donna
Frustrated with his life, and the remote controls, he heads out late at night to buy a universal remote. The only store he finds open is Bed, Bath and Beyond, where he can’t find any universal remotes. Exhausted, he lays down on a bed. When he rolls over, he spots a door labeled “Beyond.”
The door to the "Beyond" Section
Inside, he meets Morty (Christopher Walken), a mad-scientist-like storeroom clerk, who takes him into the “Way Beyond” section and gives him free of charge a state-of-the-art universal remote that isn’t even on the market yet. The remote is supposed to be self-programming and automatically able to control whatever it is pointed at. Morty warns Michael that the remote is non-returnable, to which Michael replies “Why would I want to return something I got for free?”
Morty finds the Universal Remote for Michael
Back at home, Michael find the remote turns his TV on without any programming, just as Morty said it would. Donna comes up behind him and asks him if he expects to have any more time for his family when he is more successful. He pauses the TV with the remote to reassure her that when he’s a success he will hire people to do all his work for him. Michael doesn’t notice that the remote froze HER as well. When he unpauses the TV, she unfreezes as well. Later that night as Michael works on the project, his dog Sundance starts barking to go outside. Since the rest of the family is asleep, Michael tells Sundance to be quiet and jokingly points the remote at the dog repeatedly pressing the down volume button. When the remote actually affects Sundance’s volume, Michael assumes that his mind is playing tricks on him due to the cough syrup and junk food he’s been eating. He takes Sundance outside, still carrying the remote, and frustrated while waiting for the dog to do its business, he tests the remote again, pressing fast forward. Sundance speeds up, going through its actions at high speed and remains fast until Michael presses play. This freaks Michael out; he drops the remote and runs upstairs to bed.
The next morning, Donna is being visited by her annoying friend Janine (Jennifer Coolidge). Michael criticizes Janine, which upsets her. Michael sees the remote on the table and presses mute which silences the scene. Michael also discovers a picture in picture feature that allows him to watch a game in a window over real life. Michael goes back to Morty and learns the remote’s power: It’s truly a universal remote, in that it will control Michael’s universe.
Morty shows Michael the remote's main menu
Michael uses the remote to fast-forward through his weekend, including dinner with his parents (Henry Winkler & Julie Kavner), his work project and his cold, and later to eavesdrop on the Japanese clients to get inside information, allowing him to land the account and become a partner in the architecture firm he works at. For a moment Michael is happy, but the next day his boss tells him that he won’t get promoted until he finishes all the drawings for the project. Michael is frustrated with the weeks of work that will take and asks the remote to fast-forward him to his promotion, which it does, but Michael discovers it is now a year later. He has missed out on a lot of his family life: his wife feels distant from him (due to his being in “auto-pilot” for a year), his dog has died and his kids, now a year older, have new interests. Even worse, the remote is now fast-forwarding by itself, having “learned” from what Michael has previously fast-forwarded through. Morty doesn’t tell him how to stop the automatic fast-forward and refuses to take the remote back, and Michael can’t get rid of it himself as it keeps reappearing. Michael tries to avoid doing anything that the remote would fast-forward through, only to end up being offered another promotion, which fast-forwards him another 10 years into the future to February 5, 2017, where he finds himself severely overweight.
Michael finds himself overweight in the future
Michael’s kids have grown into teenagers (played by Jonah Hill & Lorraine Nicholson) and Donna is dating Ben’s old swim coach Bill (Sean Astin). Michael never even made any progress on his kids’ treehouse, which remains in the same half-finished condition as it was 10 years earlier. As a fight starts between him and Donna, he pauses the remote before it can fast-forward again. Morty appears and tells him he still has a chance to win his wife back. Michael writes her a note with what he wants to say and unpauses. He is tackled by the family’s newest dog and knocked down and hits his head.
The remote automatically fast-forwards and Michael wakes up in a hospital bed with Donna looking over him. He learns that it is now six years later. When he hit his head he had to have a cat-scan, which found cancer that the doctors were able to remove, and he has been having liposuction to lose the extra weight. Donna is now married to Bill.
Donna & Michael in the future
Michael goes back to work, finding that he now owns the architecture firm and was Architect of the Year. His grown son Ben (Jake Hoffman) is now an architect at the firm as well.
Michael sees his son Ben all grown up
Michael learns that his own father has died in the meantime. At the cemetery, Michael tries to rewind to his father’s death, but Morty appears and says that the remote can’t take him there because he wasn’t there. Michael rewinds to the last time he saw his father before he died, at sees him blow him off. Michael pauses the scene and says goodbye to his father. Back at the cemetery, Morty admits that taking Michael’s father wasn’t something he wanted to do. Michael asks what Morty means, and Morty says he’s the angel of death. Upset, Michael has the remote fast-forward to a happy place, and finds himself at his son’s wedding. After muddling through a toast and chatting with his mother, he dances with his ex-wife to their song.
Donna & Michael dance to their song at their son's wedding
During the dance, he sees grown-up Samantha (Katie Cassidy) call Bill “Dad” and has a heart attack. He fast forwards to find himself lying in a hospital bed, with Morty standing over him. Michael asks Morty why he made him waste his life, and Morty tells him that he was already fast-forwarding through his life before they ever met. Ben and Samantha come to visit, and Michael learns that Samantha waited at the hospital for 36 hours for him to wake up, because he’s her father. When Michael asks about Bill, she says she has two fathers.
Ben & Samantha visit their father in the hospital
Ben mentions that he has a plane to catch and is postponing his honeymoon to go back to work and close an important deal. Ben and Samantha leave and Michael starts disconnecting himself from the hospital machines to follow them, against Morty’s warnings. Outside in the rain, Michael collapses in the street but get’s Ben’s attention at the last minute. Surrounded by his family, he tells Ben “family comes first” and apologizes to Donna. He realizes she still loves him before he dies.
Michael tries to get Ben's attention
Michael wakes up in the bed at Bed, Bath & Beyond and is shocked to realize that it was all a dream. He goes home and announces to the family that they are going camping as planned. The kids go back to bed and Donna says she’ll be waiting for him upstairs. Michael notices the remote on a table with a note from Morty saying that he knows Michael will do the right thing this time. Michael throws the remote in the trash.
My Review:
There is a great concept here, and for the most part the film makes the most of it. The "twist" that most of the movie was a dream at Bed, Bath & Beyond was pretty obvious, but it slipped from my mind before the end of the movie. This is billed as a comedy, but it is kind of light on the comedy. Although it does have its moments, I found most of the comedy pretty forgettable. Toward the end the tone turns very dramatic, and the film really shines. From the moment Michael hits his head to when he wakes up back in Bed, Bath & Beyond, there is little if any humor, but a lot of drama. The scene where Michael sees the last time he saw his father is a tearjerker.
The casting is excellent, and all the actors seem well-suited to their roles, especially Christopher Walken and David Hasselhoff. Jake Hoffman was convincing as the adult son of Adam Sandler (in reality the actor is the son of Dustin Hoffman). The makeup used to age Sandler and Beckinsale was very convincing. The makeup and effects used to make Sandler fat weren’t as convincing but weren’t distracting either. The special effects related to the remote control were quite good. I particularly liked the menus.
The movie is rated PG-13 “for language, crude & sex-related humor and some drug references.” This isn’t a surprise for a Sandler film, and by Sandler standards it’s pretty tame, but I found most of the PG-13 instances unnecessary as they didn’t really add anything to the movie. I suspect that a recurring joke involving a dog and a large plush duck was a large part of the rating, and I didn’t find it that funny in any of its instances. This film probably could have been made to pass a PG rating and been just as good.
Overall, this isn’t one of Sandler’s funniest comedies but the dramatic elements make it and enjoyable and worthwhile film.
