When this show was first released three years ago,my viewing of the trailers(plus my opinion of Adam Sandler movies)had me thinking something like this:interesting story,good intentions but a bit mawkish and played for the syrupy,sentimental laughs and forced tears. The reviews weren't exceptionally great for it,either,saying in essence that while the show is fine overall,its casting and scripting seemed to be going for the easy crowd pleasing elements(not to mention each critic's personal opinion of Sandler,which oft times aren't too favorable)thus making it only an honorable effort at best.
Recently,I got a chance to see this movie as a cheap(well,okay,library rental,so free)rent and found myself pleasantly impressed(if not overwhelmingly disabused of my suspicions)with this movie. The film opens as a look into the life of Dr.Alan Johnson(Don Cheadle,who never,EVER seems off in any performance!),a very successful NYC dentist/orthodontist whose career might be more vulnerable than it initially appears(i.e. at least one previous messy patient lawsuit and one that seems to be brewing). His marriage and family life is comfortable and stable,but lacks much pop or interest.
Then one evening he runs across a guy on the street who looks a lot like an old college chum. On a hunch,he follows him and his suspicions are correct: the man,Charlie Fineman(Sandler,all Bob Dylan-looking and refining his "strange" persona to largely positive effect),was in fact Alan's old roomie in college,a fellow dental student. The previous six to seven years have been mostly an escape for Alan's old pal,as his losing his wife,three daughters and dog in one of the planes in 9-11 has him spinning a deep cocoon of music,movies and video games to drown out his memories,also in essence amplifying his looming bi-polar disorder.
Cheadle and Sandler work well off each other,and even though the inevitable Sandler "Blow up"(a la his many comedies and his dramatic turn in 2002's Punch Drunk Love)occurs,it is paced to perfection and this show,which is fraught with emotional keynotes,works a fair amount of restraint to make this sympathetic,warm,touching and yet not so manipulative that it runs the risk of turning off most audiences. Credit to Director/Writer Mike Binder(who also appears as Charlie's accountant)for making a movie that works a post 9-11 story with as much restraint,deftness and nuance to make this more of a personal story,rather than a simple,dumb weeper or "feel good" comedy. Some of the previously mentioned criticism of this film also landed on the casting of the rest of the movie,particularly on Liv Tyler as the wide-eyed(but not naive)psychologist/therapist that works downstairs from Dr.Johnson,but I personally found her likable and not so intrusive or glaringly off-rhythm to the film's sometimes sad,quasi-quirky and off-beat mien. Saffron Burrows,as the potential lawsuit aforementioned,early on threatens to sort of take this film down an alley that seemed kind of incongruent,but the script integrates her back into the fiber of the story,albeit somewhat implausibly. Everyone else seems fit in just fine:Jada Pinkett Smith as Dr.Johnson's soft-spoken,reasonably patient wife,Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon as Charlie's sometimes over-bearing in-laws,John de Lancie as a concerned but ultimately powerless therapist,Rae Allen as Charlie's concerned landlady and Donald Sutherland as a no-nonsense judge.
To me,the way to make a story like this play better is the use of restraint:namely,the ability to draw out odd,tragic characters without having to punch the emotional cues,happy ones as well as sad. This movie is able to go roughly two hours doing this quite well.
Recently,I got a chance to see this movie as a cheap(well,okay,library rental,so free)rent and found myself pleasantly impressed(if not overwhelmingly disabused of my suspicions)with this movie. The film opens as a look into the life of Dr.Alan Johnson(Don Cheadle,who never,EVER seems off in any performance!),a very successful NYC dentist/orthodontist whose career might be more vulnerable than it initially appears(i.e. at least one previous messy patient lawsuit and one that seems to be brewing). His marriage and family life is comfortable and stable,but lacks much pop or interest.
Then one evening he runs across a guy on the street who looks a lot like an old college chum. On a hunch,he follows him and his suspicions are correct: the man,Charlie Fineman(Sandler,all Bob Dylan-looking and refining his "strange" persona to largely positive effect),was in fact Alan's old roomie in college,a fellow dental student. The previous six to seven years have been mostly an escape for Alan's old pal,as his losing his wife,three daughters and dog in one of the planes in 9-11 has him spinning a deep cocoon of music,movies and video games to drown out his memories,also in essence amplifying his looming bi-polar disorder.
Cheadle and Sandler work well off each other,and even though the inevitable Sandler "Blow up"(a la his many comedies and his dramatic turn in 2002's Punch Drunk Love)occurs,it is paced to perfection and this show,which is fraught with emotional keynotes,works a fair amount of restraint to make this sympathetic,warm,touching and yet not so manipulative that it runs the risk of turning off most audiences. Credit to Director/Writer Mike Binder(who also appears as Charlie's accountant)for making a movie that works a post 9-11 story with as much restraint,deftness and nuance to make this more of a personal story,rather than a simple,dumb weeper or "feel good" comedy. Some of the previously mentioned criticism of this film also landed on the casting of the rest of the movie,particularly on Liv Tyler as the wide-eyed(but not naive)psychologist/therapist that works downstairs from Dr.Johnson,but I personally found her likable and not so intrusive or glaringly off-rhythm to the film's sometimes sad,quasi-quirky and off-beat mien. Saffron Burrows,as the potential lawsuit aforementioned,early on threatens to sort of take this film down an alley that seemed kind of incongruent,but the script integrates her back into the fiber of the story,albeit somewhat implausibly. Everyone else seems fit in just fine:Jada Pinkett Smith as Dr.Johnson's soft-spoken,reasonably patient wife,Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon as Charlie's sometimes over-bearing in-laws,John de Lancie as a concerned but ultimately powerless therapist,Rae Allen as Charlie's concerned landlady and Donald Sutherland as a no-nonsense judge.
To me,the way to make a story like this play better is the use of restraint:namely,the ability to draw out odd,tragic characters without having to punch the emotional cues,happy ones as well as sad. This movie is able to go roughly two hours doing this quite well.