Anger Management Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)December 3rd, 2003
ANGER MANAGEMENT (2003)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: One star and a half
What can you say about a movie when Adam Sandler shows more restraint than loose cannon Jack Nicholson? Not very much, I'm afraid. Though I'd hardly call "Anger Management" Adam Sandler's worst comedy, it is definitely one of his weakest. With a dependable premise and a promising cast, the film sinks without ever adhering to its own ideas.
I hate to use the same old phrase that most critics use but this film does have a great premise. Adam Sandler plays Dave Buznik, an employee for some conglomerate who has just received a promotion. His girlfriend (Marisa Tomei?) is excited by his job success but is dismayed that he can hardly reciprocate the love they share. Then on an airplane flight, Dave asks for a headset so he can watch the in-flight movie. He keeps asking until finally he ends up in a scuffle with the airline stewardess. This scene is funny because Sandler uses whatever expert timing he has to deliver the right facial reaction, and his slow burn segueing to slowly mumbling his words with quiet ease before erupting is stimulating to watch. This is, of course, what audiences expect from Mr. Sandler, his anger resulting in beating the heck out of everyone around him.
But then we are left with arched-eyebrowed, goateed Jack Nicholson as a doctor with anger management experience who wants to cure Dave's boiling temper-tantrums. We are introduced to peripheral characters who do nothing except induce severe groans (at least they do to me). John Turturro, Heather Graham (mouthing chocolate cake and mumbling) and Luiz Guzman play such arcane stereotypes that I was amazed not one of them could make me crack a smirk. Even reliable John C. Reilly, as a reformed Buddhist monk, literally kicks some butt but to no end. Like most of the movie, the idea is funny but the execution is wanting.
"Anger Management" has maybe two scenes that offer a chuckle or two - one is Sandler's response when he discovers Nicholson wants to date his girlfriend. The other is Sandler and Nicholson's duet to a song from "West Side Story." A few unusual cameos by John McEnroe and Rudolph Guiliani simply mark time - nothing comes of them. The movie has as little to do with anger management as it does with surrounding Sandler with guest star cameos and over-the-top mugging. And to show how the movie eradicates its original concept, it ends as yet another mediocre romantic comedy! What the film needs is strictly narrative and comedic management.
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