Dir. Frank Coraci
Writ. Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe
Act. Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Walken, Henry Winkler

It has become quite clear that the summer of 06 in the film industry is the summer of slow. Adam Sandler's new movie is another testimonial on how damaging your life can be if your goals are only about working to get status and lots of money. This movie should be a must see for anybody who lives by the ole' mighty dollar.

Michael Newman, played by Adam Sandler (The Longest Yard,) is a work-a-holic architect who is trying to impress his inept but domineering boss, Ammer, played by David Hasselhoff (Dodgeball,) by sacrificing time with his family for work for the sake of his family's future. When Newman goes to a department store to look for a universal remote control, a man named Morty, played by Christopher Walken (Wedding Crashers,) gives him a universal remote that actually controls Newman's universe. As Michael continues to use the remote to skip aspects of his life, the remote remembers these settings, forcing Michael to skip days to years and starts to lose his family due to the choices he made with the remote. As the remote skips Michael's life towards the end, Michael realizes the errors of his way, only way to late.

I think this is a compelling way to tell the time old tale that money is not the root of happiness. Obviously, in this day and age, money still controls the decisions that are made in everyone's life. I know I deal with it on a daily basis, I know friends whose lives are coming to an end because money is the deciding factor. If you know someone who is like this, recommend this movie to them. It gives a very compelling argument about why money should not be the most important thing in your life. The story also shows why we as a nation, should start to slow down. The scene which best shows this is when Sandler discovers that his fathers dies and he "rewinds" to the last time he sees his father. This was a very emotional scene and wonderful between Michael and his father, played by Henry Winkler (Scream) done wonderfully between Winkler and Sandler.

Sandler in my opinion has delivered his finest performance. He was able to show the range of emotion while he was suffering from his fast forwarding life, and be able to be funny as well. He was believable in every scene especially when he was in the fat suite and was able to add small characterizations that make it real, like heavy breathing when carrying his weight. Excellent job by Sandler.

The special effects are once again very good. Sandler's fat suit was funny and real, and Henry Winkler looked young once again in a scene during the movie so I am guessing that it was the same technology that was used for Patrick Stewart in X3. The only problem is that for anyone as old as me (or older,) the young Winkler in the movie does not look like the Winkler from the 1970's on Happy Days TV Show. I think his nose got bigger or something.

The best thing about the special effects was the way Sandler was able to interact with people who were frozen or put on 'pause' in the movie. There are a couple of other scenes besides the ones that are in the previews that really had me stumped as to how they did it. I may have to look it up.

This is one of the best movies of the year because of the message and how it was delivered. I give credit to director Frank Coraci and writers Steven Koren and Mark O'Keefe for creating and presenting a believable story that makes us realize that money is everything.

Brian - the Naked Gun