Bedtime Stories: Not enough brains nor brawn

Bedtime Stories

Certification: PG

Cast: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Courtney Cox, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Laura Ann Kesling, Richard Griffiths, Russell Brand, Teresa Palmer

Director: Adam Shankman

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy

HERE'S Walt Disney Studios taking a chance on Adam Sandler, an actor who always brings with him the crude and the lewd to the big screen.

His choice of physical comedy has always been less than family-friendly so "Bedtime Stories" is definitely something new for Sandler in that sense.

Call it venturing into new territory or just plain parenthood, but Sandler delivers as promised a movie that he can bring his own kids to, and still retain his trademark flair for his core audience.

Teaming up with Adam Shankman, a choreographer-director-producer who recently gave us the memorable Hairspray, the result is a little not-here-nor-there.

Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) and his sister Wendy (Courtney Cox) lived their younger years in the family motel run by their father. But when the business went bankrupt, their father had to sell it to a zealous developer, Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths), under the condition that one day Skeeter will be able to run it.

Thirty odd years later, Skeeter still has not left his "home" which has already been turned into a high-rise hotel. He works as the lowly maintenance guy fixing everything from light bulbs to television, while watches Barry Nottingham give every opportunity to his would-be successor, Kendall (Guy Pearce).

Perhaps it's the unfulfilled life he is leading, or he has never really grown out of that spoiled kid he was before, Skeeter is a little selfish and mean. But when Wendy has to leave town one day and requests for Skeeter's help in babysitting her two children, Bobbi (Laura Ann Kesling) and Patrick (Jonathan Morgan Heit). In more ways than one it becomes the turning point in his life.

What's more, he discovers that when telling them a bedtime story, the children's input becomes real the next day. And so begins a quest for Skeeter to use the children's imagination in getting him the managerial position he has been hoping for all these years.

The main problem here is how the script is not really well thought-out. In terms of characterisation, in one scene you'll see Skeeter treating an old lady with much compassion, but when he first meets Wendy's friend and colleague, Jill (Keri Russell), he turns into a real jerk for no apparent reason.

Skeeter's friend, Mickey (Russell Brand), also isn't written in properly. It seems like he's only there as dialogue-fodder when in fact, he does have quite a big role throughout the movie. But because he has zero character development, the audience are not able to relate to him in anyway.

Courtney Cox is a complete waste as she's nothing more than the mother figure that shows up once in a while.

And there's no mention why Barry Nottingham isn't leaving his legacy to his own daughter, Violet (Teresa Palmer), who is just as prominent in the movie.

As for the story progression, there are more plot holes than one can count. Despite it being a fantasy genre, there are just too many events happening and the writers are not giving any explanations for.

The biggest frustration is how, or why, the bedtime stories are coming to life and only affecting Skeeter.

However, the stories are created in beautiful fantasy sequences that range from days of the Roman Empire to futuristic space worlds. Shankman knows how to bring colours and verve to the set pieces even though the production is far from being the most expensive.

But with dwarfs popping out and Keri Russell turning into a beautiful mermaid, nothing really happens as they add naught to the storyline and just disappear as suddenly as they come.

Perhaps it all boils down to the direction by Shankman, or maybe because of the new partnership between the two Adams that both Shankman and Sandler are finding hard to express themselves fully, or even had to compensate for each other.

But either way, Bedtime Stories shows nothing close to what Shankman is capable of; and Sandler is still the same old Sandler - a good thing or a bad thing will depend on you.

Reviewer's Rating: 5 / 10

The Brunei Times