Bedtime Stories (2008)

*Get the film on Amazon here*

I've never been an Adam Sandler fan. I avoided most of his movies over the years, and I barely remember his time on "Saturday Night Live"- it's easy to forget uninspired characters like Opera Man and...hm, don't remember any others...

Sandler plays a doofus who must take care of his sister's uptight children. He begins telling them bedtime stories, and they reciprocate. Elements of the fantastic stories start coming true in real life, or is it a coincidence? I don't think the film makers themselves were sure. Sandler does his same-old same-old, but since this is a children's film, adults have to suffer through fart and booger jokes, and await the predictable ending, along with a set-up for a sequel that never materialized. I was laughing at the villainous Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless through the first quarter of the film. They were pretty funny until the fantasy elements of the story took over. Also taking over is some lame computer-generated special effects, which looks like it was done on someone's free sample software program. Call me crazy, but a bug-eyed guinea pig isn't that rib-tickling, no matter how long you have it onscreen. Because the film is predictable, it is also boring. It took me three days to watch this, and I almost burst into tears when I realized I was only halfway through at one point.

Stats:
(2008) 99 min. (1/2 *) out of five stars
-Directed by Adam Shankman
-Screenplay by Matt Lopez and Tim Herlihy, Story by Matt Lopez
-Cast: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Courteney Cox, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Lucy Lawless, Richard Griffiths, Jonathan Pryce, Nick Swardson, Teresa Palmer, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Laura Ann Kesling
(PG)