Click: A Personal Resonance

A Moment In Click (2006)

The movie felt like a satire of my life. The main character was a work machine. He never stopped for anything, even things more important than work. Family was harmed because of his actions and he realized this when the remote gave him the power to view himself from another, universal, perspective. American's work 40 hours a week and many remain low in economic status. Despite working longer than this, it remains difficult to get higher in life without sacrificing family time. Newman symbolizes the person constantly working at the cost of everything else because he believe it will improve his life. These are the feelings I have with my work. However, I am also the shadow side of Newman. I neglected my family and ignored them.

Michael Newman (Adam Sandler), freezes the moment in time when he realizes he has been neglectful of his family while living with nothing but work, and that the last thing he said to his father was hurtful because of his prior preferences.

I took the scene and applied it to myself. I became very uncomfortable and depressed. In depression, I began thinking about the value of everything. "What is this worth to me?" became an important question. At the time, I valued work more than family. The scene changed my perspective completely. I felt like a narcissist and began to look at myself from different angles. The alternate perspectives began to reveal that many things I do are hurtful or ridiculous. In an argument, I attempted to shift my perspective to another angle and concluded that the conversation was useless and only served to expel things from our system and share our beliefs and values.

I cried during the scene. I saw a son shouting for his father to leave and it was implied this was the last thing Michael did.  My father is 71 years old and even though death can come at any age, I fear my father's death is nearer than many others and I have not told him enough times how much he matters to me. I do not know the last time I will see him. I used to ignore the stories my father told and think about other things when he spoke. Now, I cannot help but fear losing time with him. Every time my father speaks, I make the greatest effort to fully listen. Before, I had homework interfering with my family and my thoughts and attention. The film altered my perception of how my life was going and why the direction I was going was horrible.


Michael missed many moments because he was unaware and comfortable with his behaviors and the effects he had on those around him. Only from an objective perspective did he see how his life was effecting, and going to effect, the people around him.

The film was not well received with critics. SOURCE: Rotten Tomatoes

The film received some support from the general audience. SOURCE: Metacritic

The film did not receive great reviews from critics but it did receive relatively median views from the general audience. On Metacritic, many comments below 40 focused on Sandler and the 'unoriginal' story. Sandler has been a comedian for many years and to see him in a non-typecast role is unbearable for many, even though he still does some comical things it is not enough. The expectations of the critics is what leads to their negative reviews. The hope that an actor will do one thing and then the hope being crushed leads to a negative criticism. It is not even a critical review.


Another focus was the story's resemblance to "It's a Wonderful Life," which shows what life would be like if the main character did not exist. Click may seem like It's a Wonderful Life, but the stories are different. Click does not focus on what life would be like without him, it focuses on what life would be like with him maintaining his personality from a certain point in time. The main character still exists to people, but he is there in a certain guise. An annoying fact is this, plots are recycled in every movie. A critic searching for an original plot is a critic who will never enjoy a movie because the plots are all the same. Many models have been suggested for the number of plots that exist, but there seem to be fewer than 20. Even the book 20 Master Plots and How to Write Them was being generous in the number. I suggest that fewer than 20 exist, so a critic searching for a new plot will be disappointed at every film.

Only a few plots exist. It is the stories that are different.

Regardless of critic views, the movie altered my perception of life and family. It contains the concept that we have one life and we need to focus on it. If life was infinite, then perhaps we would regard our interactions with others differently. Michael was our guide through experience and consequence. It is perhaps a film that uses logic as much as it uses emotion, making its impact really powerful.