ShareThisDisney family comedies have a way of robbing rowdy dudes of their personality.
So it's a relief that Adam Sandler gets to be himself in "Bedtime Stories," avoiding the fates of Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel and Tim Allen, who became milquetoast Mouse House doofuses.
Sandler, whose Happy Madison Productions had a hand in making the movie, puts his distinctive stamp on every aspect of the movie, right down to the silly, nonsensical Rob Schneider cameo.
That the only occasionally funny film doesn't quite hit its stride has little to do with Sandler trying to keep it inoffensive for the sake of the kiddies. It's just the sad fact that Sandler isn't as funny as he used to be.
His formerly off-the-wall vibe is now pretty much content to stay on the wall. Safer there. Gone is the man who would wrestle Bob Barker on a golf course or splash water on his pants to make it look as though he's had an accident.
The sanded-down Sand-man plays Skeeter, a nebbish hotel handyman whose sister, Wendy (Courteney Cox), asks him to watch her two children (Laura Ann Kesling and Jonathan Morgan Heit) for the week.
Skeeter takes the night shift, putting the young'uns to bed with fantastical tales that star Skeeter as the hero and the kids as supporting characters. The kids help Skeeter embellish the tales, suggesting raining gum balls, visits by Abe Lincoln and a dwarf who dashes in to kick Skeeter's knees when he's about to get a kiss.
When Skeeter goes off to work the next day, everything the kids suggested comes to pass. So Skeeter, who hopes to persuade the hotel's CEO to let him run a new operation, tries to get the kids to bend their stories to his benefit.
Since Skeeter has the hots for Violet (Teresa Palmer), the bigwig's party-girl daughter, she often plays the heroine. Although as the nights pass, Violet is edged out by Wendy's friend Jill (Keri Russell), who watches the kids during the day and starts to catch Skeeter's eye.
In the real world, corporate lackey Kendall (Guy Pearce) is Skeeter's competition for both the job and Violet. And thus Kendall is the villain in the tales, which range from fantasy to sci-fi and "romaction," which one of the kids explains is a combination of romance and action.
There's no magical explanation why the kids' stories come true, which is just as well. No need to muddle things up with long-winded mythology. Much of the film is just Sandler mugging, making the kids giggle and the audience wishing they were just as enraptured by his halfhearted silliness.
"Bedtime Stories" is passable stuff and will give everyone in the family a few laughs. Kids will have the best time, because the comedy is geared toward them and they won't remember the Sandler who wouldn't sleepwalk through roles.
2.5 stars out of 4
Rated: PG for some mild rude humor and mild language.
Running time: 99 minutes.
E-mail Phil Villarreal at Pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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