Bedtime Stories

One for you nippers

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“This movie is super entertaining. I honestly don't understand why some people don't like it. Adam Sandler and everyone else in this movie were great. Adam Sandler can definitely act in any kind of movie he chooses to, he's a great actor. I recommend everyone who is a fan of comedies and/or children movies to give this a try. I didn't expect this movie to be this good but I was very very surprised! Disney has done it again, they almost never disappoint. Go out and see this movie with the whole family! But, if its out of theaters make sure to rent it when its available because this is a great modern family film the whole family will enjoy!”

At least they have one thing right, it is a very fun film of the very silly variety!

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“This movie was weak- very sub par. The characters were mainly annoying. Sandler once again plays a tough guy underdog wannabe who comes out on top in the end (ho-hum). Most annoying were the two Russels: Keri Russell and Russell Brand. Keri is as vacuous as ever; her role could have been played by a mannequin. She deserves to be blacklisted for her role as a self-absorbed college student in "Felicity". I used to run out of the room whenever my wife had it on. Russell Brand has no business being in show business. He is a boring pseudo transvestite who makes a living off of a contrived Cokney accent. The children in the film were cookie-cutter clichés that added to the boredom. Courteney Cox needs to give it up. She resembles an anorexic hooker looking for her next fix. Her character was stuck on "bitchy". I've got to say that Lucy Lawless never looked better. She needs to stick with that short black hairdo - very hot! Guy Pierce stole the show as the obnoxious yuppie type - great characterization. The plot was childish and predictable. It seemed that they made it up as they went along. There were so many implausibilities as to not waste my time listing them all. I will give credit to the director, though - the scenes where the ancient Greek arena is depicted and the "Star Wars" set were professionally done, displaying the awesome ability of modern-day movie technology. Otherwise, this movie was pretty much a waste of time and money.”

Now this review is a shame because it’s basically just a chance to slag off the people they hate that were involved in this movie. Why bother watching it in the first place!?

What I thought:
It’s very much a case of “does what it says on the tin”, Bedtime Stories as you would imagine from the name and the DVD case this is very much a kids movie. So much so that there isn’t much for an adult to enjoy here, as the hater pointed out it’s very predictable with some corny dialogue and an ending so cheesy you can smell the stilton! However as I have already pointed out this is a kids film and for kids there are a lot of laughs to be had, being a father and writing reviews for kids film means I like to test these films on them before I write one.

With Bedtime Stories their opinion isn’t very valid and I think that’s because it’s for older kids, that aside they did laugh when they watched this and did seem to like what they did watch. It’s just a very silly movie which for the right age of kids should work just fine in keeping their attention. I think that the sense of humour is very silly for the majority of the running time, only certain actors seem to realise just how silly though. Adam Sandler is used to playing the man child but even here seems to take this film a little too seriously at points. The only two who seem to be treating it for what it is are Guy Pearce with an outstandingly hammy performance as the bad guy of the piece and Russell Brand, whose silly best friend feels more like one of the kids than a sidekick.

Its USP however is those fantasy sequences, they are done very well and look fantastic, this amount of effort is nice to see in a kids film and does help the running time skip by quite nicely. However if kids films aren’t your thing and you don’t have kids to keep busy then probably best to avoid this. Saying that it’s not half bad, it’s imaginative and fun and perfect for the sprogs. Easy to follow plot and characters just bizarre enough to get the belly laughs.