Sandler goes to Disney and tones down some of his humour but also a lot of his goofiness.
He is a nice hotel maintenance man Skeeter Bronson. His father used to own it but had to sell to Richard Griffiths to stave off bankruptcy. Griffith promised to have let Skeeter run the hotel one day.
His smarmy rival in the hotel is Kendall (Guy Pearce) the guy who manages the hotel. He date's the boss's daughter and is in line to take over the running of the new replacement hotel.
Skeeter's sister Wendy (Courteney Cox) has to get out of town and dumps her two children on him. To entertain them he tells them bedtime stories but with a real world twist.
He also ends up being challenged by Griffiths to come up with ideas for the theming of his new hotel and the one with the best presentation will run the new hotel.
Pretty soon the tales he tells and the real world collide as he has to keep one step ahead of Kendall who has a few tricks up his sleeve. Skeeter only has Russell Brand, a fellow hotel employee to aid him.
From the trailers the film had an interesting premise of fantastical stories to be told, fighting knights, chariot races, in the wild west and outer space but it soon gets lame.
The main plot is lamer and although there are few good sequences such as the rainbow gumballs falling, it is not enough to sustain it.
The film was always going to be predictable, Keri Russell would be the love interest, Kendall will get his just desserts and some of the Sandler regulars pop by.
Brand gives a more restrained performance as the best friend. The kids were good, but the film was boring.
Courtney Cox and Lucy Lawless were wasted as was Jonathan Pryce as Skeeter's dad. The film promised more than it delivered.
Bedtime Stories
2008
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Romance / Sci-Fi
Bedtime Stories
2008
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Romance / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
In 1974, Marty Bronson builds the Sunny Vista Motel in Los Angeles, California, with the intention of raising his son Skeeter and his daughter Wendy in the place where he works. However he is not a good businessman and the hotel goes bankrupt. Marty is forced to sell his motel to Barry Nottingham who promises to hire Skeeter in a general manager position when he has grown up. Years later, Barry builds a new hotel; forgets his promise to Marty; and Skeeter Bronson is only the handyman of his hotel. The general manager is the arrogant Kendall, who is engaged with the shallow Barry's daughter Violet Nottingham. When the Webster Elementary School where Wendy is the principal will be closed to be demolished, she needs to travel to Arizona for a job interview. Wendy asks her friend Jill, who is teacher in the same school, to watch her son Patrick and her daughter Bobbi during the day and Skeeter to watch them during the night. Skeeter meets the estranged kids with his best friend Mickey and makes up bedtime stories to help them to sleep but the kids add details to the stories, changing their endings. Soon Skeeter realizes that the plot of the stories are coming true and affecting his life. Meanwhile Barry Nottingham decides to give a change to Skeeter to dispute the manager position in his new hotel with Kendall like in one of his stories. But Skeeter has told to his nephew and his niece that stories do not have happy endings.
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Boretime stories
A film more for kids than adults due to it being rather schmaltzy.
When Uncle Skeeter (Adam Sandler) is asked to babysit his niece and nephew, to entertain them he tells them a story. Oddly, some of that story comes true the next day. And, after telling them yet another story, the same thing happens. Skeeter then realizes that whatever details the children put in the stories--those are the things that come true. So, he's hoping that they can help him with his stories...and thereby give him success, love and a red Ferrari.
This film was targeted towards kids....and the fact it's Sandler's first film with Disney seems fitting. The biggest nod towards kids is the CGI guinea pig--something very few adults would enjoy. There also are non-violent guns that tickle and slap the opponent. And, there was the dopey bee sting scene--where a bee stings Skeeter's tongue. Finally, the film also is rated PG--with cleaner language and content than you'd usually find in a Sandler picture.
So is this any good? For kids, yes. There are fart jokes and the bee sting sequence (which adults would HATE) is something kids will probably like. As for adults, the film will most likely be tough going since it was so intentionally marketed towards kids. The ending with the kids in the school and the motorcycle...it's also pretty tough to bear and awfully stupid.
Worth seeing...unless you are a teen or older. It's a case where the story idea is better than the elements within the story.
Adam Sandler can't do family film
Marty Bronson hoped the Sunny Vista Motel would be their home with his son Skeeter (Adam Sandler) and his daughter Wendy (Courteney Cox). But he's not a good businessman, and he's forced to sell to Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths) promising to let Skeeter run it when the time comes. Barry has built an impressive hotel, but no longer remembers the promise. Skeeter is only the handyman, and the new manager is Kendall (Guy Pearce) who's engaged to Barry's daughter Violet (Teresa Palmer). Meanwhile Wendy has to leave town and ask Jill (Keri Russell) to watch her kids during the day and Skeeter during the night. He makes up bedtime stories for the kids that somehow comes true.
First of all, Skeeter is annoying and doesn't deserves the management hotel job. He's the handyman and he's lucky to have that job. He NEEDS to be a capable man so that his oversight is seen as an injustice. Being nice to the guests is just a bare minimum. All the whining really wears badly. Keri Russell is sweet which balances out Adam Sandler. This family movie is barely that. I guess that why they have the bug-eyed Bugsy, but that guinea pig is just weird.