like the stink on his feet

BEDTIME STORIES
Adam Sandler, Keri Russell
Walt Disney Pictures

Whatever They Dream Up... He Has To Survive.

Bedtime Stories presents Adam Sandler in a relatively new direction, veering from the crude and tasteless waste that was You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Relatively being the operative word as the Sandler's tacky is still utilized albeit toned down, most probably due to the movie's positioning as a holiday treat for the entire family.

It tells of Skeeter Bronson, the hotel handy man who was tasked by his older sister Wendy (Courtney Cox) to baby sit her kids while she attends a job interview in Arizona. Lacking any experience in child care, Skeeter was clueless as to what he should do on his first night. The kids suggested that he tell them a bedtime story. Skeeter started telling them stories involving knights and gladiators, cowboys and alien fighters which the kids found boring. Hence, they added their own input giving the narratives a rather imaginative twist. However, Skeeter soon realized that the little details that the children put in somewhat end up happening in real life. This, of course, set up the course of the film's plot - for Skeeter to land the role of General Manager of the new hotel, only to get subsequently fired, manage his own cozy, little inn, and live happily ever after with the kids, his love interest and Bugsy, the hamster with an interesting pair of eyes.

If the words of the late Marty Bronson were any true - that fun is only limited by one's imagination - then one could only assume how imaginative the people behind this film are. Bedtime Stories is quite a disappointment. One has never questioned why most people like Sandler until this film. It ends without really answering how their plot devices magically happen in real life - the gum balls, the damsel-in-distress, the midget, the fire. Were they all just mere coincidences? Or was it Bugsy - who's probably a reality-altering, bug-eyed demon who metamorphosed into a stupid-looking hamster whose quest is to bring about the apocalypse through Sandler's inane humor? A note to the producers: enough of Bugsy. Bugsy will never happen!