Click (2006 film)

Click is a 2006 American science fantasy comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe, and produced by Adam Sandler, who also stars in the lead role. The film co-stars Kate Beckinsale as his wife Donna and Christopher Walken as Morty, an eccentric stranger. Sandler plays Michael Newman, an overworked architect who neglects his family. When he acquires a magical universal remote from Morty that enables him to "fast forward" through unpleasant or outright dull parts of his life, he soon learns that those seemingly bad moments that he skips over contained valuable time with his family and important life lessons. Throughout the story, Morty explains how the remote works and issues warnings.

Filming began in late 2005 and was finished by early 2006. The film was released in the United States on June 23, 2006, by Columbia Pictures. Despite having mixed reviews from critics, it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Makeup, making this the only Sandler film to be nominated for an Oscar (as of 2019). It was released on DVD on October 10, 2006. This movie was remade into Hindi in 2016, it is titled Baar Baar Dekho starring Siddharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif.

Plot
Michael Newman is a hardworking architect, married to his longtime sweetheart Donna Newman with two children, Ben and Samantha. Michael is bullied by his overbearing boss, John Ammer, and often chooses work over family. Michael visits the retail store Bed Bath & Beyond to buy a universal remote control for his home. He stumbles around the various departments before falling onto a bed, and sees a section titled "Beyond". A man named Morty offers Michael a free remote, but warns it can never be returned.

Learning to use the remote, Michael finds that it can control reality much like a television, able to pause, rewind to events in his past, or fast-forward in time. He uses it to fast-forward past illness and arguments with Donna. Morty tells Michael that during these times, his body is on "auto-pilot", going through his motions of everyday life while his mind skips ahead.

Michael is unable to buy promised bicycles for his children, but knowing that Ammer plans to promote him to a partnership, he uses the remote to skip to the promotion. He is shocked to find that a year has passed. During that time, he and Donna have entered marriage counseling, his children have grown out of their desire for bicycles, and that Sundance, the family dog, has died. The remote, having learned his preferences, starts time-skipping in response to casual wishes Michael makes. Michael attempts to get rid of the remote or destroy it, but the remote reappears in his hands shortly after each attempt, while Morty refuses to take it back, per his previous warning.

At work, Ammer tells Michael he plans on retiring, which would make Michael the new head of the International Division. When Michael presses the subject of his promotion, Ammer tells him that, in time, he could be promoted to CEO, which causes the remote to instantly fast-forward ten years into the future where Michael is now CEO. While Michael is wealthy, he has become morbidly obese and Donna has divorced him. He returns home to find Ben and Samantha have both become moody teenagers. He argues with Donna and new husband Bill, which causes their family dog to jump on Michael, knocking him into a coma. The remote time-skips six years to when Michael wakes, no longer obese, having undergone liposuction to save his life as a part of his cancer treatment and subsequent heart attack. Ben is now a partner of the firm, and Michael's father Ted has recently died of old age.

While Michael is mourning his father, Morty reappears. He reveals to Michael that he is the Angel of Death and that, no matter how many times he presses the remote, it won't take him to when Ted passed because he wasn't physically there; it turned out that Michael's last interaction with Ted was coldly rebuffing what turns out being his father's final attempt at a bonding moment between the two of them, as well as Ben. Overcome with guilt and shame, Michael asks to go to a "good place", whereupon the remote fast-forwards him several more years in the future to Ben's wedding. Michael has a second heart attack when Samantha calls Bill her dad. When he wakes in the hospital later that night, he finds his family there, including Ben. Ben had decided to skip his honeymoon to help fix some issues with the firm. Michael, fearing that his son will make the same mistakes in life he made, tries to implore him not to ignore his wife, but a nurse makes Ben and Samantha leave. Hence, Michael gathers his last bit of strength to follow them out of the hospital. He collapses and his family rushes to his help. Michael tells Ben to always put family first and assures his family that he still loves them. He dies and Morty arrives to take Michael.

Michael wakes in Bed Bath & Beyond, assuming that the entire film was a dream. He races to his family to make up for the mistakes he made with the remote and takes them camping for the 4th of July weekend as opposed to working. He sees the remote on the counter with a note from Morty, reading "Good guys need a break". Michael considers what to do to finally get rid of the remote for a moment before throwing it away, and is overjoyed when it does not reappear in his hand.

Cast

 * Adam Sandler as Michael Newman
 * Emilio Cast as Michael Newman at 10 years old
 * Kate Beckinsale as Donna Newman, Michael's wife
 * Christopher Walken as Morty, the Angel of Death
 * David Hasselhoff as John Ammer, Michael's boss
 * Henry Winkler as Theodore K. Newman, Michael's father
 * Julie Kavner as Trudy Newman, Michael's mother
 * Jennifer Coolidge as Janine, Donna's best friend who Michael detests
 * Sean Astin as Bill, Ben's swimming coach (and Donna's second husband in the alternative timeline)
 * Sophie Monk as Stacey
 * Michelle Lombardo as Linda
 * Joseph Castanon as Benjamin Newman, Michael's son, at 7 years old
 * Jonah Hill as Ben at 17 years old
 * Jake Hoffman as Ben at 29 years old
 * Danielle Tatum McCann as Samantha Newman, Michael's daughter, at 5 years old
 * Lorraine Nicholson as Samantha at 15 years old
 * Katie Cassidy as Samantha at 27 years old
 * Cameron Monaghan as Kevin O'Doyle, Michael's obnoxious ten year-old next-door neighbor
 * Rachel Dratch as Alice / Alan, Michael's assistant
 * Jana Kramer as Julie Newman
 * Nick Swardson as a Bed Bath & Beyond employee
 * Rob Schneider as Prince Habeeboo (uncredited)
 * James Earl Jones as himself / Narrator (voice only, uncredited)
 * Terry Crews as Man singing in car (uncredited)

Production
On February 15, 2003, Frank Coraci was hired and set to direct Click. Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe wrote the script for the film. Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo and Neal H. Moritz produced the film with the budget of $82.5 million for release in 2006. On March 11, 2004, it was announced that Adam Sandler, Emilio Cast, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, David Hasselhoff, Henry Winkler, Julie Kavner, Sean Astin, Jennifer Coolidge, Sophie Monk, Michelle Lombardo, Joseph Castanon, Jonah Hill, Jake Hoffman, Danielle Tatum McCann, Lorraine Nicholson, Katie Cassidy, Cameron Monaghan, Rachel Dratch, Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider, and Billy Slaughter joined the film. James Earl Jones joined the cast on March 14, 2005 to play himself and the narrator. On April 8, 2005, it was announced that Rupert Gregson-Williams would compose the music for the film. On May 8, 2005, Columbia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film. Click was filmed in Los Angeles, CA.

Release
The film screened out of competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 33% based on 170 reviews. The average score is a 4.7/10, and the consensus is: "This latest Adam Sandler vehicle borrows shamelessly from It's a Wonderful Life and Back to the Future, and fails to produce the necessary laughs that would forgive such imitation." Metacritic gave it a score of 45 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Box office
Click grossed $137.4 million in the United States and $100.3 million internationally, with a total gross of $237.7 million worldwide.

Awards and nominations

 * 79th Academy Awards: Best Makeup (Nominated)
 * 33rd People's Choice Awards: Favorite Movie Comedy (Won)
 * 2006 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie – Comedy (Nominated)
 * 2007 Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Movie (Nominated)
 * 2007 Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Movie Actor (Won)