Hey, look — it’s the benefit of vastly lowered expectations
Although it’s branded as a fun Disney family fantasy, the new Adam Sandler vehicle, Bedtime Stories, is like every other Sandler film. The hero is introduced as a hapless loser and must overcome some sort of obstacle (school, golf) on the way to riches and vagina.
The latest Sandler savant is Skeeter, who grew up in a motel where his dad (Jonathan Price) encouraged his wild imagination with a nightly routine of fantastic bedtime stories. Unfortunately, ol’ dad was an awful businessman, and is forced to sell his hotel to an effeminate fatty (Richard Griffiths), with one caveat — that, should his son “prove” himself, he be allowed to take over management of the hotel when he’s older. Jump forward 20 years, where the little motel has been transformed into a mega-hotel, and the adult Skeeter is working as a custodian. He still hopes for the day when he will be allowed to take over the hotel, but some stiff competition is in the way in the form of an asshole manager (Guy Pierce) and his evil toady (Lucy Lawless).
Sandler gets a call from his sister (Courtney Cox), an anal-retentive principal who needs him to look after her two kids while she’s out of town. In an effort to entertain the kids, Sandler starts spinning them bedtime yarns like his dad used to do. And, lo and behold, the stories begin to magically come to life — sort of. All of the “miracles” are actually just coincidences, the message being, I suppose, to find the joy in everyday magic or something.
There are the expected saccharine Disney touches and idiotic humour designed to suck in the kiddies — farts and slapstick, primarily, with the most egregious offender an excruciatingly annoying CGI guinea pig, whose abnormally giant eyes are supposed to be inherently “hilarious.” The fantasy sequences are pretty limp, too. They mostly consist of knights and cowboys ambling around. Still, the film redeems itself with some good performances. Sandler acts as if the whole thing is a joke and lets loose with surprisingly non-annoying results, Rob Schneider shows up in a strange and creepy role as a mumbly pickpocket and Russell Brand is hilarious as Sandler’s dim-witted friend.
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