Bedtime Stories

Steve West: “It was ok.”

For what it's worth, this review is based on the 2/3 of the movie I actually saw. I've walked out on movies in the past but this is one I arrived to late. I probably would have enjoyed what I saw more if I had seen the premise unfold instead of being thrust into the middle of it. As it was, I enjoyed it a lot.

This film requires serious suspension of belief, aside from bedtime stories coming true. A handyman is given the opportunity to determine the theme and then manage a new luxury hotel. But only if the gazillionaire entrepeneur likes his idea better than his regular flunky. Sandler determines to use the bedtime stories to make his real life dream come true by manipulating the children to say a story that will give him an edge in the competition. See, it's the children's contributions to the stories that are the parts that actually happen.

Lots of funny Sandler moments without too much of his high-pitched voice inanity. Sight gags aplenty and only minimal potty humor. My biggest concern was that this was a film targeted toward small children made by Adam Sandler. 'Nuff said. I went to the theater expecting to see a different film but the hosts changed their minds at the last minute. Fine. It turned into a positive experience not because of the high quality of the film but because it didn't offend me like I thought it might. My daughter enjoyed it immensely and I'm considering letting her write her own movie reviews.

Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless make for an unusual pair for comedic foils and don't really do a credible job of it. Try again, you two. Courtney Cox makes an unremarkable show of being the Mom of the two children and Russell Brand as the inexplicably British accented room sevice buddy is only mildly amusing but Keri Russell shines as the unexpected love interest.

Add to this an unending supply of jokes centered on a bug-eyed guinea pig (many times actually funny), and it made for a pretty entertaining movie. If only I had seen the first third of the film...

− January 3, 2009 • more by Steve • log in or create an account to reply