I like Adam Sandler and Christopher Walken charms me every time, but this film simply doesn’t click. The entire first half struggles to stay above water. It relies on the outdated idea that a remote control can be used to mute or fastforward real live people and things. We’ve all made that joke before. I’m quite surprised Adam Sandler thought it would be funny somehow on film. Additionally, production and acting is rickety.

Determined to make something of itself, an hour later, the film begins to pick up. No big surprise, it’s true essence (a reworking of “Scrooge” or “It’s a wonderful life”) begins to blossom. The production value increases and things begin to gel. Jake Hoffman does an excellent job as Sandler’s grown son. His emotional performance adds a great deal of depth not found in the performances of other actors and the film becomes quite touching.

Ultimately, the film has a sweet lesson to offer, but fails to hammer it home. The lesson doesn’t feel genuine. The ending theme “Family First” strikes a tad dissonant, because there’s just too many sex gags to actually be a family film. This is a B/ B- picture, but because of the annoying product placement I’ll drop it to a B-/C+.

This film screened at Yelm Cinemas.

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