Bedtime Stories

Yup, another kids’ film. And a pretty darn good one as well. Bedtime Stories is one of Adam Sandler‘s less annoying movies where he just plays a person rather than a character. Ben Stiller should realise his films are better under the same circumstances as well.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Sandler plays Skeeter Bronson, a luckless chap who’s father passed the family motel on to a business man with a promise that Skeeter would one day run it. Of course, this doesn’t happen and Skeeter becomes the handyman. He entertains his niece and nephew with the titular bedtime stories which start to – in some haphazard fashion – come true.

It’s a fairly familiar plot, on the whole, especially for Sandler. However, it’s good fun with plenty of little background gags that may even make it worth an extra view. As Skeeter tells his sister’s kids the stories, the scene shifts into whatever fantasy world the tale is set in leading to some good jokes and special effects. They’re the kind of thing you wish you could dream up at a moment’s notice if you’re trying to get a small child to settle down for the night.

The bad guys are suitably bad (and I was amazed to find out that the crotchety one was Lucy Lawless), the good guys suitably sickly and the animals suitably cute. I was impressed with how the scenes from the stories worked their way into real life – especially the last one. Surprisingly clever, in fact.

One thing that did grate, though, was Courtney Cox‘s performance. It looks like she’s had some kind of facial operation which is weird enough, but all of her lines are out of sync with her mouth. I can only think that the weird look affected her ability to talk at the time of filming and they did a pants-awful job of the dubbing afterwards.

My little cousin loves this film and I can see why. Great family fun.