'Click's' Sandler will never be Jimmy Stewart
"Click" Running time: 98 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13

Someone needs to tell Adam Sandler that no matter how many times he tries to make Frank Capra-esque movies, he will never be Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper. Adam Sandler is, whether he likes it or not, Jerry Lewis -the annoying manchild who just wants to be loved in the most maudlin of ways.

In "Click," Sandler continues to steal from the Capra playbook by somehow melding "It's a Wonderful Life" with a 30year-old Benny Hill sketch. The premise of a TV remote that controls Real Life (the Benny Hill rip-off) is the engine that drives this awkward and annoying and eventually maudlin movie (the Bad Capra stuff).

Overly ambitious architect Michael Newman (Sandler) is given a TV remote by a creepy guy (Christopher Walken, natch) and is told he can never return it. Newman realizes the remote can have him fast-forward through arguments with his hot wife (Kate Beckinsale) and even speed up time to get to the job promotions he wants.

Of course, the emotionally stunted Newman doesn't realize that while he's fast-forwarding through life in order to be more successful, he's missing out on What's Really Important -you know, "family" and all that crap. As he gets older he begins to realize his mistakes, and then the movie goes from being just another Adam Sandler Fart-Fest to a sappy, Lifetime Movie of the Week.

Walken and Sandler appear in the summer movie "Click," a movie about a man who can control is life with a remote control.

I can't recommend you see "Click" at the theater. Maybe as rental. But then, comedy is subjective. We all have our own ideas of what's funny. So if you haven't seen "Click," here's a good litmus test to decide whether you should go to the theater or wait: If you think a running gag of a golden retriever having marital relations with a big stuffed duck is Comedy Gold, then by all means head for the multiplex.

GRADE: D (c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc.