Anger Management [HD]

Fun to Watch!
Lighten up, fellow reviewers! ANGER MANAGEMENT is lighthearted comedy--not neurosurgery. I had zero expectations going into this movie, but as soon as the hilarious plane scene unfolded I found myself watching with an ear-to-ear grin on my mug.

I've seen Adam Sandler in numerous movies (and hated most of them), but as humble, wishy-washy Dave Buznik, Sandler is at his low-key best. Buznik is the last person to have an anger management problem, but following a fateful series of miscues (and hysterically funny miscues at that) he is ordered by a judge to attend an anger management course. And this is not just any old course: This is a course led by the unorthodox and dysfunctional Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson's inherent creepiness is perfect for this role). Nicholson and Sandler play off one another in grand fashion; the goofy therapist pushing the mild-mannered Buznik to the edge--and beyond--is mucho fun to watch!

An added delight to this campy comedy...

by-rote comedy
With that frazzled hair, that just-swallowed-the-canary grin, and that sly, mischievous, devil-may-care gleam in his eye, Jack Nicholson does the controlled-mania shtick better than anyone working in movies today. But even his presence isn't enough to prevent "Anger Management" from emerging as a decidedly unfunny comedy, one that ends up wasting the talents of Adam Sandler, Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, Woody Harrelson and Luis Guzman as well.

The David Dorfman screenplay is yet another of those "high concept" package deals - replete with contrived plots and big-name movie stars in the leads - that look irresistible to all those corporate green-lighters at the studio, but which fall to pieces the moment they come to fruition on the big screen. Sandler plays a mild-mannered, put-upon schnook who is unfairly and inexplicably convicted of assaulting a stewardess on an airplane. Much to Sandler's chagrin, the court consigns him to the care of Nicholson, a well-known anger management...

Great if your an Adam Sandler fan, OK otherwise
Possible Spoilers Ahead:

I have to admit that I am not a big Adam Sandler fan. However, I saw the trailers and I was intrigued by the thought of Sandler playing a regular guy to an over-the-top Jack Nicholson. About halfway through the movie, I had trouble following the storyline. I think this was due to Sandler playing his mild mannered Dave Buznik character too calm in the beginning. While I understand the concept of a guy who internalizes his anger (which is why he was a candidate for Anger Management classes), even guys who internalize their anger show some frustration when there are problems. I thought Buznik's overly calm reactions seemed unrealistic during the entire flight attendant hostility `over the headset' episode. I suppose Sandler was trying to go for no reactions at first and building up, over the course of the movie, to more obvious displays of anger (like the fight with his grade school nemesis turned Buddhist monk), but he started out so overly calm at the...

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