There's something charming about an actor wanting to make child-friendly films after a career of crass dick and fart joke-loaded features. Bedtime Stories gives Adam Sandler a chance to create something his kids can actually watch. You know what? For the kids it'll be entertaining. From any other perspective, Bedtime Stories fails to be anything but mildly charming. Bedtime Stories is like that muzzled pony behind the fence at the petting zoo, the adults will smile at it because it's just very safe and visually tired - the children will laugh and scream in excitement without the parents having to worry.
Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) has worked as a hotel handyman ever since his father (Jonathan Pryce) sold it to Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths). Mickey (Russell Brand), Skeeter's confidant in a life unfulfilled, offers consolation and advice despite being less than fully operational in the head. The stories begin when Skeeter's sister Wendy (Courteney Cox) asks Skeeter to watch over his nephew and niece, Patrick (Jonathan Morgan Heit) and Bobbi (Laura Ann Kesling). Bouncing between the care of Skeeter and their teacher Jill (Keri Russell), the real magic doesn't begin until Adam Sandler attempts to tell a bedtime story their first night together. The premise actually satisfies despite being reproachable in how obvious each plot point is. While Skeeter is too stupid at some points, there are a few sequences where the bedtime story clues are just abstract enough to make the real-life revelation fun for adults as well.
Wouldn't you know it? Without explanation, the events of the bedtime stories Skeeter and the children tell begin to parallel the events of Skeeter's life. Being the literary analyst-skilled handyman he is, Skeeter recognizes the pattern and attempts to steer the stories every night to benefit him. Ever the self-centered character, Skeeter's initial goals are to outwit Kendall (Guy Pearce) in earning a high staff job at the hotel and land the boss's daughter (Teresa Palmer). Like any good story, there's a catch and Skeeter discovers that he doesn't quite have the control over the stories that he thought he did.
The Rolling Stones said it best, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need". Skeeter simply needed his niece and nephew to point out what that was. It wouldn't be Disney without children holding some fundamental truth the adults had forgotten along the way.
For the movie's comedic input, Sandler actually takes a backseat with little more than a few sarcastic "Well, isn't that just perfect!" moments in favor of Russell Brand and a completely CGI hamster named Bugsy. Bugsy is supposed to make the children laugh because his eyes are huge. Yes, the ploy for comedy is that simple and inept. Big eyes. Luckily, Russell Brand fills in with his own peculiar type of spacey off-the-wall commentary and overly-youthful enthusiasm. Russell Brand will save the film for most of the adults out there - Keri Russell and Adam Sandler feel like diet cola versions of themselves: too sweet and less filling.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Disney delivers what has become their standard physical Blu-ray package: a Blu-ray disc, DVD and digital copy. Beyond that, Bedtime Stories on Blu-ray is surprisingly barren on extra features compared to many of Disney's major releases. There are a mere 5 featurettes covering a mixture of the children, the hamster the final sci-fi scene and a blooper reel. What's really funny is that the bloopers reveal that compared to Sandler, Rob Schneider is a goddamn professional on set. Through all the blooper reels, Schneider stands stoically delivering line after funny line as Sandler giggles. It's tremendous. I don't think I've had such respect for Schneider in ages. Then we have some deleted scenes which really are nothing special. Frankly, I'm wondering who the target audience of those deleted scenes are? Bedtime Stories will leave Happy Madison Productions fans scratching their heads, and the intended audience is far too young to worry about what scenes did and didn't make the final cut.
Bedtime Stories will go down smooth for the kiddies, but parents are going to gag on the saccharine nature of entire production. The sweetness of the film is made all the more glaring because of, not in spite of, the line by Bobbi about stories not seeming real if they have a happy ending. Isn't it odd how we're left in dire need of an insulin injection after a Disney movie where such a cynical line is delivered? This isn't the first Disney movie which calls storybook endings into question, but Enchanted's approach of sarcastically citing the magic as opposed to simply deflecting it offhand helped us buy in.
"Bedtime Stories" is on sale April 5, 2009 and is rated . Adventure, Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by Adam Shankman. Written by Matt Lopez, Tim Herlihy. Starring Adam Sandler, Guy Pearce, Jonathan Pryce, Keri Russell, Lucy Lawless, Russell Brand, Courteney Cox, Laura Ann Kesling, Jonathan Morgan Heit.
