Anger Management
Nicholson. Sandler. What more do you need to know? Of course, savvy moviegoers may recall countless occasions when a seemingly can't-miss cast delivered a major dud. Fortunately, in this case the dynamic duo of Nicholson and Sandler proves up to the task of compensating for a mediocre script and pedestrian direction.
Adam Sandler plays David Buznik, a mild-mannered businessman with a condescending boss and a girlfriend (In The Bedroom's Marisa Tomei) who's starting to lose patience wih his insecure ways. A business trip takes an unexpected turn for David when a series of misunderstandings leads to his arrest aboard a flight. The sentencing for his misbehavior? Anger management training.
Jack Nicholson is Dr. Buddy Rydell, the psychiatrist in charge of working with David. Much to David's chagrin, Dr. Rydell employs a variety of less-than-standard tactics (e.g. sleeping naked in the same bed with him) in an effort to cure him of his alleged condition. Can Dr. Rydell help David score with the girlfriend and improve his life in general?
Dr. Rydell's eccentricity is the perfect opportunity to put Nicholson and Sandler in a variety of odd situations that often lead to side-splitting moments. In one notable segment, a trip to a Buddhist colony to confront David's childhood nemesis yields highly amusing results. Despite a generally unremarkable script by David Dorfman, Nicholson and Sandler rip into the material with such gusto that the laughs come fairly regularly.
Nicholson is gleefully exaggerated in a performance that's the polar opposite of his restrained, award-winning work in About Schmidt. As for Sandler, he's a highly effective straight man, and when he does get to let loose, he makes the most of it. Tomei has a thankless role but handles it like a pro, and John Turturro and Luis Guzman provide some amusing moments as fellow members of David's anger management class.
The film is also peppered with a plethora of celebrity cameos, including well-known actors, pro athletes and even a politician. While this technique often indicates a sense of desperation on the part of the filmmakers, in this case the majority of the cameos actually work pretty well.
Director Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Nutty Professor II) directs in a primarily straightforward fashion, and one wonders if some more imaginative flourishes would have made the film more memorable.
Fortunately for Segal, the Nicholson-Sandler comedy team delivers. While it's mildly disappointing that Anger Management isn't the comedy classic it might have been considering its cast, the film is nonetheless a solid piece of entertainment that's good for a fair amount of laughs.
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Sandler and Heather Graham toss 'em back in a memorable bar scene.
Plenty of laughs and a romantic subplot between Sandler and Tomei make this solid date material.
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