Anger Management

A movie by Peter Segal

With Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, and others

Christina says:

Dave Buznick (Adam Sandler) is the archetype of a wimp. He's the one who does the work his boss gets praised for, and lets everybody treat him like a doormat. A strange chain of events results in him ending up on trial for violent assault of a flight attendant. The judge (Lynne Thigpen) sentences him to a course in anger management held by the star therapist Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson). Unfortunately, the only result of Rydell's therapeutic skills is that Dave has to show up once more before the judge. This time he has the choice between going to jail or Buddy Rydell's crash course, which includes the eccentric shrink moving in with Dave and watching him day and night.

Anger Management is a slapstick comedy typical for Adam Sandler and makes fun of everything: the hysterical reaction to the alleged aggressiveness, the judicial system and the omnipresent self-help groups. If you are looking for subtle irony or hidden sarcasm, you are watching the wrong movie. It won't stay with you for a long time, either, but it is always good for a laugh. Actually, it's not the somewhat naive Adam Sandler who ensures the humour, but devilish Jack Nicholson breathing new life into the sometimes rather lame one-liners in his inimitable way. Each time the movie threatens to move into the region of shallow clichés, Nicholson saves the day. One character stands out among the exaggerated stereotypes of the self-help group: John Tuturro as Dave's choleric sponsor Chuck. It's interesting how many cameos you will notice in this movie, a sure sign that the film makers couldn't think of anything else to ensnare the audience. A lot of them aren't well known to the international audience, though, and the funniest cameo by far was John McEnroe.

Anger Management is a nice way to spend your evening, it will make you exercise your laughing muscles and has got a forget-me guarantee. The only surprise was that instead of ending in the usual kitschy scene it provides one last funny pun.

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Christina

Last changes: 06/07/03