Bedtime Stories: Adam Sandler Bores Us

In his usual underdog role, Adam Sandler palys a lowly Los Angeles handyman recruited by his sister (Courteney Cox) to babysit her two children while she’s out of town. He entertains them with made-up bedtime stories, but once events in the stories start happening in real life, he realizes that the kids’ narrative input has some sort of magical effect. Bedtime Stories is too typical of what passes for live-action family filmmaking these days, throwing together saccharine sentiments, mindless comedic action, and scenes of unusually affluent family life in the hopes of crafting a gleaming entertainment that’s always in motion and won’t offend anyone. (But, on that note, is Guy Pearce’s evil hotel manager supposed to be gay or just, y’know, exceptionally prissy?) Parental advisory: There is a Rob Schneider cameo.