AMB Reviews

Bedtime Stories: 4/10 Stars

Release Date: December 25, 2008

Content Advisory: Rated PG for some mild rude humor and mild language. Several sequences of mild action, including mild fistfights, chases and races, though it most always played for laughs. Girls occasionally wear bikinis. Several instances of rude humor, including a man being covered in slime.

Review: 

Bedtime Stories stars Adam Sandler, who, although is known for being in rather explicit and vulgar films, calls this film one that "mothers will hug him for." Is he correct? It's possible. Does that make this an automatic winner? No.

In Short:

Bedtime Stories documents the fictional story of one uncle, named Skeeter, who must babysit for his one nephew and one niece for a week. While putting them to bed each and every night, he tells them a made-up story, that he allows them to help tell as well. Finds out, that whatever the children tell in the story, actually comes to life the next day. As Skeeter begins to realize this, he then realizes that the children have the ability to control how his life will play out in certain areas. Of course, this being an Adam Sandler flick, you can expect some pretty good laughs, as well as some gross-out humor. As always. In the end, though there is definitely some comic moments in this family-friendly film, it ended up simply being mindless, silly, and an overall disappointment.

In Full:

As you probably already know, if you've seen the commercial... Bedtime Stories is about stories that are brought to life in the real world. Adam Sandler has called is his film that mothers will finally "hug him for." He may be right about that, but he's not so right about the draggy plot, mediocre acting, and unoriginality. Though the plot is definitely something fresh and new by Disney standards today, it's still filled with what you would expect in a Disney family movie. There's nothing new about it. Nothing really stood out to me, and nothing really caught my attention. I even found myself losing interest in the film halfway through. It's enough to keep the little ones entertained (more-so even than the older ones), but the plot is most certainly draggy for those who look close enough.

The acting itself was decent enough. I have never really seen Adam Sandler in too many other films, so I don't know exactly how he talks, but throughout this film, he kept a very annoying, childish voice that made me want to punch my chair. It didn't make him sound funny... it made him sound stupid and immature. The rest of the supporting cast, including his sister, his sister's friend, and his niece and nephew, were all decent enough, with the two kids especially sticking out to me as a worthy actor and actress. In the end, the film's acting was the least of its concerns (though by the movie's end, I couldn't take much more of Adam Sandler).

The visuals were decent, as they usually always are for a Disney film. They were nothing special to comment upon, but were still nice to see coming from a completely mediocre Disney film. The humor was another completely mediocre aspect of the film. Though there were jokes tossed at you nearly every minute, I only found about half of them actually funny. Many of them were stale, while others were childish, enough to make only the little ones laugh. Another portion of the jokes were potty humor jokes, which only reaches a very small audience. That leaves only a small amount of jokes left, and by that time, you're too bored to really even laugh. 

Of course, when the trailer for a film ends up being better than the actual film itself, you know you have a problem. That is the issue I am running headfirst into with Bedtime Stories, whose trailer made it out to look like a very entertaining and enjoyable romp. And though it may be just that for some, especially those littler ones, I would much rather listen to the classic story of "Little Red Riding Hood" or "The Three Little Pigs" before going to bed, rather than sit for 90 minutes and watch an unoriginal, dry, and only half-funny flick about those classic Bedtime Stories.  

In conclusion, Bedtime Stories is really an acquired taste. Those who still aren't tired of the normal Adam Sandler fare, may find something new and (surprise!) appropriate here! For those families out there who are in need of a clean and fun getaway, Bedtime Stories has its ups and it has its downs. For most of the adults, this movie could turn out to be a real bore. But for those little ones, who get a kick out of almost any slapstick type humor, this film could just be a bullseye. For those like me, however, who are tired of the normal Disney fare, the gross-out humor, and the reused cliches, Bedtime Stories ends up being nothing more than a disappointment.