Bedtime Stories (2008)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writers (WGA):

Matt Lopez (screenplay) and
Tim Herlihy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Whatever they dream up... he has to survive.

Plot:

A family comedy about a hotel handyman whose life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true. |

Plot Keywords:

Bedtime Story | Handyman | Arrested Development | Guinea Pig | Gumball

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	Skeeter Bronson
Keri Russell	...	Jill
Guy Pearce	...	Kendall
Russell Brand	...	Mickey
Richard Griffiths	...	Barry Nottingham
Teresa Palmer	...	Violet Nottingham
Lucy Lawless	...	Aspen
Courteney Cox	...	Wendy
Jonathan Morgan Heit	...	Patrick
Laura Ann Kesling	...	Bobbi
Jonathan Pryce	...	Marty Bronson
Nick Swardson	...	Engineer
Kathryn Joosten	...	Mrs. Dixon
Allen Covert	...	Ferrari Guy
Carmen Electra	...	Hot Girl

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and mild language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44892) | Ireland:PG | Australia:G | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIA | Taiwan:GP | South Africa:PG | Sweden:Btl | Portugal:M/6 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Finland:K-7 | Mexico:A

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Gunn Films

Trivia:

While staying in Skeeter's room at the hotel, Patrick and Bobbi watch "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" (2005), a television series about two kids who live in a hotel. That series stars twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse, who starred opposite Adam Sandler in Big Daddy (1999/I).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Kendall makes a list of things for Skeeter to do in the hotel in his capacity as handyman. One of these things is investigating why an elevator is running slowly. In actuality, the process of becoming licensed as an elevator inspector is a long and difficult one, and it's unlikely that a general handyman (and sometimes janitor) would have such a license, as most people who do would go on to work exclusively in the more lucrative field of elevator repair. Perhaps this was not a mistake on the filmmakers' part, however, as it may have been intended to show that Kendall is out of touch with the day-to-day operations of the hotel or that Skeeter is so devoted to the hotel that he became licensed as an elevator repairman just so he could attend to all of the problems that could foreseeably arise.

Quotes:

Skeeter Bronson: I don't know but it's been said, Bugsy's eyes pop out of his head, march, march, march.

Movie Connections:

References Cinderella (1950)

Soundtrack:

Hokey Pokey

It woke me up.

"What if the stories you told came to life?" Bedtime Stories Promo

Having suffered through Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), I was prepared to suffer through Bedtime Stories, his offering in the 2008 Christmas glut of fine movies that have few for kids. Sandler rules: This is one of the best children/adult stories this year, an ironic twist on romantic and heroic tales told from children's point of view through the masterful child/adult lens of an underplaying, child-friendly master.

Sandler's Skeeter Bronson takes care of his niece and nephew for a week. Of course he hasn't a clue because he hasn't seen them in four years and his job as super-maintenance man at the Sunny Vista Hotel in Las Vegas consumes most of his time and energy. He's the usual Sandler sweet-hearted semi-loser with reserves of child-like sympathies ready to be released.

The conceit is that after telling the humorous tales with the kids' ample and creative input at bedtime, the story elements become real in real life, altered to fit the modern context (e.g., a rain of gumballs actually happens the next day, explainable by a candy truck spilling its contents over a bridge onto Sandler). In this ingenious way, the film recalls the Wizard-of-Oz trick of making real in Kansas what Dorothy had experienced in the Emerald City.

There is nothing deep about this delight, just a small satire of a society that may be losing its sense of wonder and fun in order to bow at the altars of nutrition and commercialism. Not bad for a film I thought would be another Sander nodder. It woke me up to the joys of imagination and love.

Happy holidays.