I've been away for ages but I'm back with avengence!
I've been away for ages but I'm back with avengence!
Member since:30.11.2005
Reviews:220
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Director: Adam Shankman Actors: Adam Sandler, Keri Russel, Guy Pearce, Genre: Family/Adventure/Fantasy Classification: U Release Date: Boxing Day 2008
What's it about? ****************** Skeeter Bronson, is the son of the late Marty who was forced to sell his small family motel to Barry Nottingham who in turn tore it down to build a fancy, more expensive hotel in it's place. Nottingham makes a promise to Marty to let his son run the place when he grows up but instead of being hired as manager, Skeeter is given the position of hotel handyman.
His life takes an unusual turn while baby-sitting his niece and nephew, when he discovers the bedtime stories he tells them start to come true. With the help of the kids, he tries to manipulate future events to the benefit of both his family and himself. Will he ever become manager at the hotel? Will he find love where he least expects it? Will he become a hero and save the day for his niece and nephew?
Acting/Characters *************
I want to start off by saying, my favourite character without a doubt is Bugsy, the bug-eyed Guinea Pig!
Adam Sandler - Skeeter Sandler is his usual ridiculous self in this film - all loud voice, burps, farts and booger jokes and exaggerated hand gesters - exactly what attracts
kids to a film. You can't help but think that from a childs' perspective Sandler would be the ultimate Uncle and yet from a grown ups perspective, he would be a nightmare! He has a way of engaging the younger audience which, even though it's mostly infantile humour, I can't help but wish I could do the same.
Keri Russell - Jill Although Russell's performance didn't fly off the screen at me, I give her, her dues for managing to bounce off Sandler well. Sharing screen time with such a big character and ensuring you are still heard is a challenge, and although she played the straight man, she pulled it off nicely.
Russell Brand - Mickey I am still struggling to understand how Brand has managed to make a name for himself stateside, but here we are. He plays the deranged hotel waiter and friend to Skeeter, and you know that if anyone can pull off deranged and manage to grab a bit of the limelight next to Sandler, it's going to be Brand, so mission accomplished.
Guy Pearce - Kendall Pearce plays the over the top, nasty, show tune loving hotel manager and rival to Sandler's good guy and he does a fantastic job. Aesthetically, he made me smile alone. He looked like a cross between Val Kilmer in Top Gun and a plastic Ken Doll complete with moulded hair. He is the perfect pantomime bad guy brilliant fun to watch
Jonathan Morgan Heit - Patrick and Laura Ann Kesling - Bobbi Jonathan and Laura played the nephew and niece and although I wasn't always convinced by how well they got on (my sibling experiences were nothing like it!) they were sweet, charming and likeable. However, it felt like they were kept in the background a bit .Two other cute, dimpled kids could have done just as well and if I'm honest, I can't remember much about them now.
Supporting cast Teresa Palmer as the Paris Hilton-esque hotelier's daughter was great and of course Jonathan Pryce played the kind, aging Marty beautifully at the beginning of the film. Courtney Cox as Skeeter's stuffy sister, Lucy Lawless as Kendall's sidekick and Richard Griffiths as Barry Nottingham also contributed.
Script/Storyline *********** The idea behind the story had such great potential and could have taken us into a wonderful world of imagination, however, just as I started to get excited about gumballs falling from the sky or Sandler as a cowboy in the Wild West, I felt like I was pulled back into the real world which had far less charm.
Like Ben Stiller films, I find Adam Sandler films often written with the purpose of making him funny. As much as his one liner's, they aren't always enough to hold a film together. In this case, the script should have considered the touching story and the opportunity to play with something as huge as the imagination a little more and a little less on the jokes.
Cinematography ************ The cinematography was exactly what you would expect from Disney. It was bright and vibrant and a little bit plastic looking when it delved into the make-believe, which added to the "dreamlike quality" when compared with the more muted reality of the kids' house of rules. There was some strong animation which crossed over into live action well. I really enjoyed the story segments, where the characters would come to life on screen in brilliant action-packet splashes of colour creating a chaos which is difficult not to get wrapped up in. Unfortunately I found these a bit short lived. Keep your eyes open towards the end though for some hilarious stunts performed by Skeeter.
Conclusion ******** This will no doubt be a hit with the kids and it is a decent, inoffensive, funny film. I enjoyed it, as did my son (and his Dad - but then he laughs at anything with fart jokes) but I was a bit disappointed it wasn't as exciting as I had expected. I wanted a bit more of the dreaminess, the wondrousness the imagination and adventure, and a tiny bit less focus on Adam Sandler pulling funny faces and pandering to a simple sense of humour.
Trivia **** Sandler decided to do this film after becoming a father for the first time, wanting to do something his child could watch
Keri Russell returned to her Disney Roots with this film - She was part of the Mickey Mouse Club as a kid.
Guinea Pig Bugsy was played by two guinea pigs - Stitches and Thimbles
Sandler chose Russell Brand for the part after meeting him while visiting London.
Sandler's Wife and daughter appear as extras in the medieval scene.
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