MOVIE - ANGER MANAGEMENT - Review Rating $$$$$ 1/2 (OUT OF 10)

STARRING - Jack Nicholson (Dr. Rydell), Adam Sandler (Dave Buznik), Marisa Tomei (Linda), Woody Harrelson & John C. Reilly.

DIRECTOR - Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, My Fellow Americans, Nutty Professor II, Naked Gun 33 1/3)

An argument on an airplane lands Dave Buznik (Sandler) in an anger management program run by a Dr. Rydell (Nicholson) who has issues of his own.

Anger Management is both an evolutionary and regressive role for its star Adam Sandler. The evolutionary aspect derives partly from the fact that Buznik is essentially a more mature version of the same character that Sandler has played in his numerous other movies. This time out Sandler's character has a serious, long-term relationship, a regular but quirky job and is less prone to vulgarity and frat boy pranks. This familiarity is also one of the regressive elements of Anger Management. Sandler has done Buznik before and the character is not only losing its freshness but also its ability to make us laugh heartily.

All of Sandler's characters have had issues and the logical progression in portraying the same character repeatedly is eventually to begin to humourously explore the psychological dimensions of this persona. This exploration, a potential gold mine of laughs, fails to be as humourous as it could have been for a variety of reasons. First, the script is just not smart enough to be an insightful satirical commentary on the issues it tackles (Anger Management Programs and "pop" psychology). Secondly, the rest of the jokes are either just not that funny and/or that original. A case in point is Sandler resorting, yet again, to a scene involving the singing of a famous song in strange circumstances. Maybe its his singing voice, or maybe its because this is an overused gag, but regardless of the reason the scene brought few hearty laughs.

The story itself, stripped of any real consequence (not completely unexpected for a comedy), is rather ordinary. It isn't helped by the fact that there is little chemistry between Sandler and Tomei. This isn't completely their fault. The script only refers to their relationship when its needed to advance the plot despite the fact that it forms the basis for the entire movie. There is virtually no explanation of what Linda (Tomei) sees in Buznik or why she has stayed in this dead-end relationship for so long.

After his brilliant recent performance in the daring Punch-Drunk Love it was sad to see Sandler take a regressive step back in his choice of roles. Doing been there, done that material is not achieving his potential. Nicholson is in full self-parody mode during the film but even that wears a bit thin by the end.

As with other Sandler films there are numerous cameo appearances including John McEnroe, Bobby Knight and Rudy Giuliani.

The real problem with Anger Management maybe that the prospect of this dynamic duo (Sandler & Nicholson) together unrealistically raises one's expectations.

Running time - 101 minutes

ALTERNATIVE REVIEWS:

Roger Ebert's Review

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

ANGER MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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