Bedtime Stories


Adam Sandler without the smutty jokes and crude humour - and funnier for it.

Yes, he did it to an extent in Click, but with Bedtime Stories he has the 'Walt Disney' shingle and produces a very enjoyable movie that you can take children to see without fear.

The plot: Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) is the son of wonderfully imaginative but no-so-financially astute hotel owner Marty Bronson (Jonathan Pryce), who is forced to sell his hotel to ruthless hotelier Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths). He does, however, manage to extract a promise that if Skeeter applied himself he would be given the chance to run the hotel one day. Needless to say, Nottingham reneges on the deal and Skeeter is relegated to maintenance of the massive hotel that is built on the site.

However, one day Skeeter's school principal sister Wendy (Courteney Cox) tells him that her school is being shut down and that she needs him to babysit his niece and nephew while she goes to Arizona to look for a new job. He agrees, and thus begins to to tell them bedtime stories, to which they contribute events.

As the days progress events from the stories start to happen to Skeeter, and it doesn't take him long to realise what is going on - though there are a few points that take longer than others. Once he realises the opportunity inherent in the situation, he tries to change the stories to help him achieve success in the real world.

The usual Sandler hilarity ensues, and being a Disney story we all know the ending.

In summary: This is a film with a very impressive cast - to those mentioned above, add Guy Pearce, Lucy Lawless and Keri Russell.


The Casablanca connection: Would Rick have used bedtime stories to try to manipulate a happy ending for himself and Ilsa - you betcha! He didn't have that opportunity, but neither does Skeeter at the end of Bedtime Stories - he has to figure out a solution for himself. Unlike Rick, he gets the girl, but it's Disney after all.

The rating: 5 out of 5

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