Adam Sandler | Adam Sandler Music

`Click'

The movie (): Adam Sandler faces a double-edged sword in his career. He makes millions as a comic, but only in rare instances, normally when he works with a prominent director such as P.T. Anderson in Punch Drunk Love, is he given credit as an actor. I didn't, until I began to appreciate his goofy charms in The Wedding Singer, and then realized there were reasons to like his sophomoric side in The Waterboy.

His problem has been reconciling the acting talent he showed in Punch Drunk Love with the goofy frat-boy side. Click (Rated PG-13, Columbia Pictures, $28.99 on DVD) is the closest Sandler has come to achieving that. He portrays Michael Newman, a workaholic architect who is a slave to his boss (David Hasselhoff). His wife Donna (Kate Beckinsale) is frustrated by the lack of attention, and Michael, he's frustrated by the lack of time.

When he's unable to find the household's universal remote control, he goes in search of one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. He finds himself in a mysterious back room talking to Morty, a wild-haired eccentric portrayed by the ever-talented Christopher Walken. That should have been Michael's first sign to run in the other direction. Instead, he stays; he chats.

Morty gives him a little device that changes his life -- a remote control that essentially allows him to control time and manipulate his future. Michael takes to it with too much delight, and soon his life begins to drift away.

It's during that time that Click becomes almost Capraesque, paying homage to It's a Wonderful Life. Given that Sandler already remade one of Frank Capra's classics, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, he probably didn't want to take any heat for having the audacity to repeat one of the best Christmas films ever to grace the screen. Smart move. Although borrowing liberally, Click doesn't imitate. It makes its point, delivers the laughs and shows Sandler can serve two masters and still be, well, Adam Sandler.

For his fans it's a definite buy, but no one should be ashamed to rent it.

The disc ( 1 2): The full-length commentary track employs members of the cast and director Frank Coraci. There are also featurettes with titles such as Make Me Old and Fat and Humping Dogs. (You can tell from those that Sandler will likely never lose his sophomoric sensibility. We'll see how well that serves him when he hits 50.) A group of deleted scenes adds little to the film.

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`A Prairie Home

Companion'

The movie (): When you can witness Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep singing together, that's a movie worth seeing. For that reason alone A Prairie Home Companion (Rated PG-13, New Line Cinema, $27.99 on DVD) earns at least one viewing, but couple that with Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly as singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, and you have a film worth watching a couple of times.

The movie is a fictional story about the last night on Garrison Keillor's successful and beloved radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. Keillor, who also appears in the film, wrote it and tries to give it a narrative, but that doesn't really hold your attention. The joy comes from watching an all-star cast -- the film also features Kevin Kline and Lindsay Lohan -- ply their trade.

The disc (): Wisely, the DVD producers play to the movie's strength -- the onstage performances -- on the disc. Here they're extended and more enjoyable. They also toss in a commentary track featuring director Robert Altman and Kline.

** ** **

Short takes: In case you missed it -- and I don't know how anyone with a television could have -- Walt Disney Studios released The Little Mermaid in an edition befitting its classic status. The first release of the animated fish tale was a shrimpy release with no extras. My, things have changed.

This two-disc platinum version features restored video and audio, a host of games, activities and other extras. My only quibble: once again the Mouse House has someone remake a classic Disney tune. In this case, Ashley Tisdale sings Kiss the Girl in a supplemental video. Joy.

** I hope to have a fuller review of Reds next week, but I wanted folks to know that the film makes its first-ever appearance on disc Tuesday.