For a movie that allegedly boasts one of the funniest comedy duos in years, “Anger Management” should have been much better. Unfortunately, the comedic prowess of Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson must have cancelled each other out during production, because while many expected “Anger Management” to be jam-packed with laughs, it simply isn’t. In fact, the whole thing is actually quite lame.
Sandler stars as Dave Buznik, the unassertive employee of a fat pet clothing line who’s just been wrongly accused of battering a flight attendant on his way home from an industry convention. Sentenced to 20 hours of anger management with the manipulative Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson), Dave quickly finds himself angrier than before, eventually landing himself back in court for another altercation. In response, Dave is delivered an ultimatum: either undergo more intensive anger management or spend a year in jail. Dave chooses the former, but when Rydell moves into Dave’s apartment, the two butt heads over his unorthodox methods.
Regrettably, there are far too many problems with “Anger Management” to consider it a success in any way. David Dorfman’s script relies too heavily on the talents of his two stars, and while their onscreen chemistry isn’t a complete failure, it doesn’t exactly click like anticipated. Nicholson does manage to garner a few laughs with his erratic behavior, but Sandler has never been less funny. He plays the same, shallow character in every one of his movies, and it’s beginning to wear thin.
And that’s not even the worst of it. Did I happen to mention that the “West Side Story” ditty “I Feel Pretty” is used as the film’s unofficial anthem? As embarrassing as that may sound, it’s completely true. In fact, it’s even used in a groan-worthy musical number that will have most people wondering why the rights to that song weren’t locked away in a vault following Robert DeNiro‘s butchering of it in 2002’s “Analyze That.” I completely expected an array of penis jokes, diluted character development, and massive overacting, but to destroy an American classic? That makes me angry.
2 / 5 Stars
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Woody Harrelson, Kurt Fuller
Director: Peter Segal
Single-Disc Blu-Ray Release:
There’s not a whole lot going for the Blu-ray release of “Anger Management.” Aside from the fact that it doesn’t really look any better in HD, the single-disc effort also features less bonus material than the original DVD. Most of the extras still appear – including a lackluster commentary track with Adam Sandler and director Peter Segal, a decent making-of featurette (“Skull Session”), and deleted scenes – but there’s nothing exclusive to this release that justifies a hi-def double-dip.
