Bedtime Stories

As Skeeter Bronson, a frustrated, underachieving hotel handyman who's dodged responsibility his whole life, Adam Sandler eschews the mature impulses he exhibited in such films as Punch-Drunk Love, Spanglish, and Reign Over Me to take up the man-child persona of his earlier comic films. When his sister (Courteney Cox) leaves for a week, Skeeter babysits her two young children (Laura Ann Kesling and Jonathan Morgan Heit), telling them flamboyant bedtime stories that invariably feature himself as the hero. The excited kids not only add their own flourishes to these fanciful tales, but to Skeeter's amazement, their contributions begin to come true in real life. Convinced that he can use this unexplainable trait to his advantage, the handyman undertakes an ambitious project with the hope that his niece and nephew will be able to conjure up some much needed support. Keri Russell is adorable as a friend of Skeeter's sister who helps with the babysitting, while cartoonish villainy is provided by Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless as the hotel's manager and concierge, respectively. Although it's refreshing to see Sandler in wholesome comedic fare, director Adam Shankman's Bedtime Stories, released Christmas 2008, is unfortunately a lightweight stocking stuffer of a film. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include 11 minutes of deleted scenes, seven minutes of outtakes, a “To All the Little People” featurette on young stars Laura Ann Kesling and Jonathan Morgan Heit (6 min.), an “Until Gravity Do Us Part” behind-the-scenes blue screen featurette on the special effects (4 min.), an “It's Bugsy” featurette on the film's guinea pig costar (3 min.), and trailers. The deluxe edition DVD also includes a bonus digital copy of the film, while the Blu-ray release includes both a standard DVD version and a bonus digital copy. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a so-so film.] (E. Hulse)