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Anger Management: Special Edition
Columbia/Tri-Star // PG-13 // September 16, 2003
List Price: $27.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
The Movie:
There was something delightful about Adam Sandler's first two movies. Proudly goofy and delightfully stupid, they still managed some great bits and Sandler threw himself into every routine with the kind of energy he showed on Saturday Night Live. It was when Sandler tried to mix actual romantic/dramatic plots into the usual comedy ("Big Daddy", "Mr. Deeds") that things started to turn sour.
"Anger Management" is another in a long line of similar Sandler characters, only this time the film seems to be more concerned with the fact that "Hey, we got Jack Nicholson, too!" than actually crafting anything much that's very funny. There's a ridiculous amount of potential here, but nobody involved seems to really care much. Cameos - a staple of any Sandler movie - barely raise a laugh (Bobby Knight's kinda funny) or are just embarassing (Woody Harrelson as a German tranvestite).
Sandler stars as Dave Buznik, an assistant who gets into some hot water on a plane flight to St. Louis. It wasn't his fault - as the trailers give away, he was just asking for some headphones - but the judge doesn't see it his way. He's assigned to Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson)'s anger management group - Rydell just happens to be the passenger that was sitting next to him on the plane. That doesn't help though - one of his fellow group members gets him into a bar fight that includes a blind man. This, while not funny in theory, leads to the film's funniest moment, where Dave's lawyer (Kevin Nealon, terrific) tries to prove that the blind man isn't that blind.
So, instead of being thrown in jail, Buddy suggests to the judge that Dave be assigned to him for thirty days. What Dave doesn't realize is that this makes Buddy his roommate. Prime comedy material, right? Wrong. "Anger Management" plays it safe, never going beyond that in its attempt to put Sandler and Nicholson against each other. The idea that Buddy is more in need of some serious work than Dave is potentially decent idea never really developed into anything too hilarious by the script, which nevertheless tries to milk that one joke again and again (and again).
Again, I like Sandler. "Happy Gilmore" and "Billy Madison" took clever, silly ideas, some classic lines and made the most out of the characters. "Wedding Singer" was funny, if forgettable. "Punch-Drunk Love" didn't go over well with some audiences, but I thought Sandler provided a fine performance, and I liked that he was moving his career in another direction with a better director than he usually works with. In "Anger Management", however, he seems to realize that he's playing the least interesting version of a character that's he's done so many times before; even the slow-burn rage that Sandler has made famous really isn't shown here that much.
It also doesn't help that he's overshadowed by Nicholson (who seems to be at least trying to add some energy to a movie that desperately needs it), or the fact that the two don't have much chemistry. The movie also manages to fit Marisa Tomei (looking better than ever) in a few scenes as Dave's girlfriend, but she's criminally underused. If there was a "Most Thankless Role" award at the Oscars next year, she'd be a lock to win.
The film seemed even a bit more promising, given that Peter Segal was directing. Segal has previously been responsible for "Tommy Boy" and "Nutty Professor II"; neither a classic, but the former moved along and had two great performances, while the latter was an improvement over the first film. Here, he shows little style, poor sense of pacing and the kind of comedic timing that the previous two films showed is not seen here. To his credit, the screenplay is terrible, but Segal doesn't try to make magic out of mediocrity.
While I do admit that "Anger Management" throws out a few good bits (many of which you've already seen in the trailer), there are an alarming amount of jokes here that fall flat (having the two characters stop in the middle of rush-hour traffic and sing "I Feel Pretty" is just painfully unfunny and, like several of the film's gags, just stops the story in its tracks), go on longer than they should, or the punchline is made far too obvious. In addition, it occasionally seems like a scene transition or two are missing.
Again, there's so much potential here. Both stars could have been so capable of turning this situation into a delightful comic nightmare, where Buddy's methods got increasingly weirder and Dave finally started to lock horns with his new therapist - in other words: the whole thing, much angrier. The film's worst step was making Dave really not in need of anger management, finding himself in a situation he shouldn't have been in. The movie could have made this into a delightfully dark nightmare, but it doesn't. In a better version, Dave would have been as implosive - if not even more - than he's described as being.
Now that would have been funny.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Anger Management" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is generally a very good one, although it suffers from a few scattered issues. Sharpness and detail were good, but a little inconsistent; the picture could appear crisp and well-defined, with good fine detail, at times. Other scenes could look crisp and detailed, but a little softer in comparison.
A few other little issues creep in at times, as well. Edge enhancement is really at a minimum here, but there are a few scenes where slight amounts are visible. Some very minor traces of pixelation also appeared in a couple of scenes. The print looked terrific, aside from a couple of tiny specks. Colors were well-saturated and vivid throughout, with no smearing or other faults.
SOUND: "Anger Management" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Although one wouldn't expect much of a soundtrack from a Sandler comedy, this film has all the elements of the usual Sandler sound mix; music is given some considerable presence and occasionally gets reinforced by the rear speakers, while sound effects are sometimes emphasized for comedic effect. Audio quality is satisfactory, as the music has a nice, dynamic presence, while dialogue remained clear. Not much to it, but what there is is okay.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary by director Peter Segal and actor Adam Sandler. This is a moderately entertaining effort that's funnier than Sandler's commentary for "Little Nicky". The two spend most of their time joking and pointing out their friends in the picture, but there's the occasional informative comment about the production. There's some spaces of silence and inane comments, but this is generally a fun track.
Deleted Scenes: 4 deleted scenes, including an amusing one with John McEnroe at an anger management session.
Featurettes: "Skull Session" and "My Buddy, Jack". "Jack" is all about how wonderful it was for everyone to work with Nicholson, while the other is a featurette is a 17-minute look at the making of the picture - casting, production, story and other issues.
Interactive Quiz: This is a jokey interactive quiz featuring members of the cast answering the questions.
Also: Blooper reel (not that funny, unfortunately) and trailers for "Anger Management", "8 Crazy Nights", "As Good As It Gets", "Daddy Day Care", "SWAT", "Hollywood Homicide", "Mona Lisa Smile", "Mr. Deeds", "Radio" and this Winter's update of "Peter Pan".
Final Thoughts: "Anger Management" should have been a comedy classic instead of a decent time-waster; stronger direction and a few more passes at the screenplay would have helped. Columbia/Tristar's DVD edition has fine audio/video quality and a handful of fun supplements. Rent it.
The Movie:
There was something delightful about Adam Sandler's first two movies. Proudly goofy and delightfully stupid, they still managed some great bits and Sandler threw himself into every routine with the kind of energy he showed on Saturday Night Live. It was when Sandler tried to mix actual romantic/dramatic plots into the usual comedy ("Big Daddy", "Mr. Deeds") that things started to turn sour.
"Anger Management" is another in a long line of similar Sandler characters, only this time the film seems to be more concerned with the fact that "Hey, we got Jack Nicholson, too!" than actually crafting anything much that's very funny. There's a ridiculous amount of potential here, but nobody involved seems to really care much. Cameos - a staple of any Sandler movie - barely raise a laugh (Bobby Knight's kinda funny) or are just embarassing (Woody Harrelson as a German tranvestite).
Sandler stars as Dave Buznik, an assistant who gets into some hot water on a plane flight to St. Louis. It wasn't his fault - as the trailers give away, he was just asking for some headphones - but the judge doesn't see it his way. He's assigned to Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson)'s anger management group - Rydell just happens to be the passenger that was sitting next to him on the plane. That doesn't help though - one of his fellow group members gets him into a bar fight that includes a blind man. This, while not funny in theory, leads to the film's funniest moment, where Dave's lawyer (Kevin Nealon, terrific) tries to prove that the blind man isn't that blind.
So, instead of being thrown in jail, Buddy suggests to the judge that Dave be assigned to him for thirty days. What Dave doesn't realize is that this makes Buddy his roommate. Prime comedy material, right? Wrong. "Anger Management" plays it safe, never going beyond that in its attempt to put Sandler and Nicholson against each other. The idea that Buddy is more in need of some serious work than Dave is potentially decent idea never really developed into anything too hilarious by the script, which nevertheless tries to milk that one joke again and again (and again).
Again, I like Sandler. "Happy Gilmore" and "Billy Madison" took clever, silly ideas, some classic lines and made the most out of the characters. "Wedding Singer" was funny, if forgettable. "Punch-Drunk Love" didn't go over well with some audiences, but I thought Sandler provided a fine performance, and I liked that he was moving his career in another direction with a better director than he usually works with. In "Anger Management", however, he seems to realize that he's playing the least interesting version of a character that's he's done so many times before; even the slow-burn rage that Sandler has made famous really isn't shown here that much.
It also doesn't help that he's overshadowed by Nicholson (who seems to be at least trying to add some energy to a movie that desperately needs it), or the fact that the two don't have much chemistry. The movie also manages to fit Marisa Tomei (looking better than ever) in a few scenes as Dave's girlfriend, but she's criminally underused. If there was a "Most Thankless Role" award at the Oscars next year, she'd be a lock to win.
The film seemed even a bit more promising, given that Peter Segal was directing. Segal has previously been responsible for "Tommy Boy" and "Nutty Professor II"; neither a classic, but the former moved along and had two great performances, while the latter was an improvement over the first film. Here, he shows little style, poor sense of pacing and the kind of comedic timing that the previous two films showed is not seen here. To his credit, the screenplay is terrible, but Segal doesn't try to make magic out of mediocrity.
While I do admit that "Anger Management" throws out a few good bits (many of which you've already seen in the trailer), there are an alarming amount of jokes here that fall flat (having the two characters stop in the middle of rush-hour traffic and sing "I Feel Pretty" is just painfully unfunny and, like several of the film's gags, just stops the story in its tracks), go on longer than they should, or the punchline is made far too obvious. In addition, it occasionally seems like a scene transition or two are missing.
Again, there's so much potential here. Both stars could have been so capable of turning this situation into a delightful comic nightmare, where Buddy's methods got increasingly weirder and Dave finally started to lock horns with his new therapist - in other words: the whole thing, much angrier. The film's worst step was making Dave really not in need of anger management, finding himself in a situation he shouldn't have been in. The movie could have made this into a delightfully dark nightmare, but it doesn't. In a better version, Dave would have been as implosive - if not even more - than he's described as being.
Now that would have been funny.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Anger Management" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer is generally a very good one, although it suffers from a few scattered issues. Sharpness and detail were good, but a little inconsistent; the picture could appear crisp and well-defined, with good fine detail, at times. Other scenes could look crisp and detailed, but a little softer in comparison.
A few other little issues creep in at times, as well. Edge enhancement is really at a minimum here, but there are a few scenes where slight amounts are visible. Some very minor traces of pixelation also appeared in a couple of scenes. The print looked terrific, aside from a couple of tiny specks. Colors were well-saturated and vivid throughout, with no smearing or other faults.
SOUND: "Anger Management" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Although one wouldn't expect much of a soundtrack from a Sandler comedy, this film has all the elements of the usual Sandler sound mix; music is given some considerable presence and occasionally gets reinforced by the rear speakers, while sound effects are sometimes emphasized for comedic effect. Audio quality is satisfactory, as the music has a nice, dynamic presence, while dialogue remained clear. Not much to it, but what there is is okay.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary by director Peter Segal and actor Adam Sandler. This is a moderately entertaining effort that's funnier than Sandler's commentary for "Little Nicky". The two spend most of their time joking and pointing out their friends in the picture, but there's the occasional informative comment about the production. There's some spaces of silence and inane comments, but this is generally a fun track.
Deleted Scenes: 4 deleted scenes, including an amusing one with John McEnroe at an anger management session.
Featurettes: "Skull Session" and "My Buddy, Jack". "Jack" is all about how wonderful it was for everyone to work with Nicholson, while the other is a featurette is a 17-minute look at the making of the picture - casting, production, story and other issues.
Interactive Quiz: This is a jokey interactive quiz featuring members of the cast answering the questions.
Also: Blooper reel (not that funny, unfortunately) and trailers for "Anger Management", "8 Crazy Nights", "As Good As It Gets", "Daddy Day Care", "SWAT", "Hollywood Homicide", "Mona Lisa Smile", "Mr. Deeds", "Radio" and this Winter's update of "Peter Pan".
Final Thoughts: "Anger Management" should have been a comedy classic instead of a decent time-waster; stronger direction and a few more passes at the screenplay would have helped. Columbia/Tristar's DVD edition has fine audio/video quality and a handful of fun supplements. Rent it.
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