Bedtime Stories

Day 273 - 9/30/09 - Movie #273

BEFORE: The last movie in September, so I'm 3/4 of the way through the year, and I still have over 400 films on my viewing list, with fewer than 100 days left in 2009. So there's no way I can finish this in one year - maybe by the end of 2010 if I'm lucky.

The Starz channel just started running this film 2 weeks ago, so again, it's nice when the movie channels get on board and run movies that fit in with my theme weeks.

THE PLOT: A family comedy about a hotel handyman whose life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true.

AFTER: Unlike DeNiroFest, this week was never meant to encompass the actor's entire body of work - remember, I'm only killing a couple days before Shocktober, or FrightFest, or whatever I decide to call my month of horror films. There are a number of Adam Sandler films I simply have no interest in, like "Spanglish" or "Anger Management" or "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry".

That said, I did notice that "Bedtime Stories" seemed to be a mish-mash of elements from the Adam Sandler films that I already have seen - it's got the underachiever who likes 80's songs ("The Wedding Singer") and has to compete to inherit his father's business ("Billy Madison") against a rich, powerful douchebag ("Happy Gilmore") - meanwhile, it seems like he has the power to change reality ("Click") and he romances a woman even though he has poor personal skills ("Punch-Drunk Love"). Throw all that in a blender with two kids and a guinea pig, and you've got "Bedtime Stories".

As for the fantasy sequences, yeah, there were some interesting coincidences, and parallels with the main storyline - which is a tradition that goes as least as far back as "Hamlet" - the play within a play. (Jeez, did I just reference Shakespeare while discussing an Adam Sandler film? Sorry...) But I didn't find the bedtime fantasy stories to be all that entertaining on their own - most of them didn't even follow basic story structures, they're just there to be silly and goofy. Maybe you have to be a kid (or have the mind of a child) to really appreciate them.

However, I found the film to be (mostly) charming...as someone who recently became an uncle for the first time, I may have bedtime storytelling-time in my future, once my niece and nephew learn some language skills and are receptive to tales, I'll need to brush up on my skills. More likely, I'll get to introduce them to cartoons and "Star Wars" films someday.

Co-starring Courteney Cox, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce ("Memento", "Ravenous"), Jonathan Pryce ("Brazil"), and Russell Brand (who actually wasn't overly annoying here) in the best friend role. And Lucy Lawless was in there as the mean desk-clerk, but I didn't even recognize her. Plus there was a hotel heiress/celebutante character named Violet Nottingham, but they might as well have named her Schmaris Schmilton...

RATING: 6 out of 10 angry midgets