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Metacritic reviews

• 80 Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson Not everything jells, but Click is funnier and more elaborately clever than anything Sandler's done in years.
• 75 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli There are times when the comedian falls back on his typical shtick, but the film doesn't shy away from the darkness inherent in this kind of story, and it has a heart.
• 75 Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman Last week, the American Film Institute named "It's a Wonderful Life" the most inspiring movie in the history of the English language. The film was initially a flop, but it's now considered so perfect that nobody would dare remake it - under that title. Folks who see Click will have no trouble connecting the dots.
• 60 L.A. Weekly Scott Foundas L.A. Weekly Scott Foundas After an hour of predictably sophomoric antics involving foulmouthed kids, compulsively self-pleasuring canines and the rampant objectification of women, Click turns into a surrealist death dream in which Sandler's masochistic impulses flower onscreen as never before.
• 50 The A.V. Club Scott Tobias The A.V. Club Scott Tobias Charlie Kaufman could have made a great movie out of Click, a soupy existential comedy about a "universal remote" that lets a man magically rewind, fast-forward, and pause his life.
• 50 Miami Herald Connie Ogle Miami Herald Connie Ogle A sporadically funny, always predictable, weirdly downbeat fantasy.
• 38 Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Aside from influences such as "A Christmas Carol" and "It's a Wonderful Life," Click is so much like the Jim Carrey vehicle "Bruce Almighty"--Steve Koren and Mark O'Keefe worked on both--the writers could sue themselves for plagiarism and then write a screenplay about it.
• 38 Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea If the moral of Click is a stop-and-smell-the-roses bromide about how family comes first, the real message of this sappy, potty-mouthed seriocomedy is that a steady diet of Drakes and Hostesses will do you no good.
• 30 Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov Sandler is a post-Catskills goldmine of potential, he always has been, and when he's willing to break with tradition (a là Punch Drunk Love), he's downright revelatory. Not this time, though. This time he's just dying.
• 25 Premiere Premiere Click is yet another uninspired Adam Sandler goof-fest with a long suffering leading lady, mildly bawdy gags--see Joe Schomo oogle female jogger--and a predictable ending.
• See all 35 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Click

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Another crude Adam Sandler movie; not for tweens.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The main character eventually learns his lesson bu

Though he reforms by the end, Michael is selfish,

Injuries played for laughs. Michael kicks Bill in

Sight gag has remote "erect" under Michael's pants

Multiple (more than 10) uses of s-word; several us

Vendors named or displayed include: McDonald's, Ti

Wine, liquor, and beer drinking, cigar-smoking; re

Parents need to know that this film includes repeated crude references to sexual activity and desire. These jokes range from sexual activity in fast-motion to the magical remote posing as the protagonist's erect penis. Violence is broadly comic, including a couple of scenes where the protagonist "freeze-frames" an…

Positive Messages

The main character eventually learns his lesson but there are no other positive messages.

Positive Role Models

Though he reforms by the end, Michael is selfish, crude, and calculatedly cruel throughout, picking on rivals, children, and his boss.

Violence & Scariness

Injuries played for laughs. Michael kicks Bill in the crotch repeatedly and slaps his boss in the face; someone says he wants to slit his wrists; someone wants to use a sword to cut his "d--k off" a heart attack leads to frantic pain for Michael.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sight gag has remote "erect" under Michael's pants; repeated jokes/images of dogs "humping" stuffed animal; reference to "porno," jokes about Michael's "shmeckel," fast-motion sex shown as shadow; allusions to "boobies," a jokey office lecture about sexual harassment includes reference to one as a "slut" Michael slows a jogger to watch her breasts bounce; Jeanine is repeatedly "horny," gag about a woman who undergoes a sex change; Michael tells Marty he doesn't "play for that team" (thinking he's being seduced); jokes about Britney Spears having her 23rd baby and a cloned Michael Jackson "molesting himself."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Multiple (more than 10) uses of s-word; several uses of "ass," one f-word; one cut-off "holy motherf-----r" and one obscene finger gesture; repeated use of "shmeckel" (baby Michael's penis); lots of other profanity.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Vendors named or displayed include: McDonald's, TiVo, Staples, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, TGI Friday's; products (named and pictured) include: Hostess Twinkies, Yodels, and cupcakes, Bose, Chuck Taylor high-tops, Cup Noodles, Speedo, Lucky Charms, Coca-Cola.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Wine, liquor, and beer drinking, cigar-smoking; references to drugs (acid, crack, marijuana, morphine), image of someone smoking hashish.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this film includes repeated crude references to sexual activity and desire. These jokes range from sexual activity in fast-motion to the magical remote posing as the protagonist's erect penis. Violence is broadly comic, including a couple of scenes where the protagonist "freeze-frames" an adversary, then beats or kicks him, as well as some falling and slamming of children (the protagonist runs over a child's toy on purpose). The film pushes the envelope on PG-13 language, including one pronounced f-word and another that's cut off (after "mother"). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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• Parents say (9)
• Kids say (98)

Based on 9 parent reviews

Silky movie with heartwarming message

What's the story.

In CLICK, ambitious architect named Michael ( Adam Sandler ) doesn't spend enough time with his wife, Donna ( Kate Beckinsale ) and two kids. Pressed into yet more overtime by his obnoxious boss Ammer (David Hasselhoff), Michael finally becomes desperate and agrees to take home a magic "universal remote" from the obviously odd Morty ( Christopher Walken ), a mad-scientist-type technician who's hidden in a back room in Bed, Bath & Beyond (the room is marked "Way Beyond"). Morty has changed Michael's options: The remote allows him to fast-forward, rewind, search by chapter, and freeze-frame his life. Soon he finds himself short-cutting more than an occasional argument with Donna or a long work weekend, and skips entire years, at which point he learns the costs of ignoring his family, his health, and any semblance of a moral conscience.

Is It Any Good?

Goofy and crude, Click is one more Adam Sandler movie where he learns the same lesson again . If you've seen any other Sandler comedy (especially others also directed by his buddy Frank Coraci ), you know what this lesson is: He must grow up and appreciate the beautiful woman who forgives all kinds of childish behaviors.

While the point is clear enough, it's so blatant and comes at such a high price – putdowns, relentless childish jokes about sex (including one involving a dog repeatedly "humping" a stuffed duck), not to mention an extended fart joke -- that you feel rather battered by film's end. Some of the physical antics might amuse tween boys, but the crude material makes even that seem too costly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the film's "message" concerning the value of family and interpersonal relationships over work and career. They can also talk about why Adam Sandler's brand of raunchy comedy is so popular. What is the appeal of a movie like this?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 22, 2006
• On DVD or streaming : October 10, 2006
• Cast : Adam Sandler , Christopher Walken , Kate Beckinsale
• Director : Frank Coraci
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Tristar
• Genre : Comedy
• Run time : 97 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : language, crude and sex related humor and some drug references.
• Last updated : February 18, 2024

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• DVD & Streaming
• Comedy , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Adam Sandler as Michael Newman; Kate Beckinsale as Donna Newman; Christopher Walken as Morty; Henry Winkler as Ted; Julie Kavner as Trudy; David Hasselhoff as Ammer; Sean Astin as Bill

Home Release Date

• Frank Coraci

Distributor

• Sony Pictures

Movie Review

Michael Newman is tired of his rat-race life, but it seems there’s little he can do about it. To provide for his beautiful wife, Donna, and two kids, the architect feels he must do whatever it takes to climb the corporate ladder—including skipping out on the very thing he’s trying to support: his family.

Needing to watch a video for a work project, Michael runs out late one night to replace his TV’s remote control. As he shops, he encounters a mysterious man who offers him a remote for free, yet warns him about its strange powers. It doesn’t take long for Michael to discover that this device can actually control real life. Tired of hearing the dog bark? Michael just points, clicks and turns the mutt’s vocal cords down. Feeling a little peaked and pale? He gives himself a tan using color controls. Fed up with arguing with the wife? He simply skips to the next “chapter.” And that’s when things really rev up. By fast-forwarding through unwanted experiences, Michael finds he can cut straight to the rewards—suave looks without showers, sex without cuddling, job promotions without work.

The little blue stick ends up having a mind of its own, though. With Michael’s every press of a button, it’s been programming itself according to his preferences. By the time he’s done thoughtlessly whizzing through the mundane minutia of days, weeks and months, much to his dismay, he discovers that the remote has decided he wants to continue rocketing through life, and it sticks on fast-forward. Unfortunately for Michael, the future he’s rapidly skipping ahead to doesn’t look so bright.

Positive Elements

Click tries hard to remind us to appreciate our todays. Soak up every moment we have, it says, and cherish the relationships that matter most. Life is about appreciating the moment—good or bad—rather than always looking for what’s over the horizon.

For Michael, that means reprioritizing his life. When his wife complains about his workaholic tendencies, he earnestly enumerates his reasons for spending so much time at the office. I’m not out drinking or gambling or picking up chicks, I’m working hard for my family, he says. But, as we all know, that’s not the right answer, either. Donna’s wise words ring out loud and clear: Pay attention to the things and to the people that matter.

In fact, throughout the story, Donna shows admirable attributes. She repeatedly puts the kids’ desires first, reminding Michael of his promises to them. She tries to comfort her husband during a tough time. And when a single friend suggests that artificially enhancing her appearance may cause Michael to hang around more, she responds with an affirmation of the couple’s secure love. “Michael knows he’s my one and only,” she later adds.

Showing her desperation to have her father around, Michael’s young daughter asks if there’s anything she and her brother can do to help him with his work. In the future, Michael’s family members are still willing to express love for Michael, even when he’s treated them badly. Click also reminds parents that their kids are watching. Without Michael realizing, his son imitates his every move—particularly his unhealthy habits (chief among them, eating junk food and swearing).

Spiritual Elements

Morty, the mysterious inventor-like character who hangs out in the “Beyond” and “Way Beyond” back rooms of a Bed Bath & Beyond store, turns out to be—surprise!—an angel of death. (Get it? He’s from beyond .) And though we later see that he has supernatural powers, there’s no mention whatsoever of a higher power who’s sent him. Michael, on the other hand, seems to blame God for his misfortunes, shaking his fist at the sky during one scene while asking God if He’s “through with me—just for once.”

Sexual Content

Could it be true? A steady stream of crude jokes, double entendres and sexual sleaze in an Adam Sandler movie? Say it isn’t so! Alas, cheating, illegitimacy, molestation, oral sex, workplace harassment and wet T-shirt contests are all fodder. A running gag that appears in virtually every other scene involves dogs “humping” a large stuffed animal. This visual excites Donna, which leads to bedroom invitations for Michael. A couple of times, while the remote zips through time in fast-forward, we see a shadow of Michael moving up and down on top of Donna (during one instance a small dog hops on his backside to join in). Michael and Donna talk and laugh about role-playing during sex and the length of their encounters.

A visit to the “making of” Michael takes him (and us) back to his parents’ bedroom, where we hear the sounds of them creating him. Michael, seeing their tangled legs, initially asks, “Is this a porno or something?” Then he discovers who’s under the sheets. When Michael is born (for a brief moment Michael, Morty and the camera catch a glimpse of the doctor from inside ) there’s lots of ribbing about how small his penis was.

In a creepier than usual scene (as if being inside a womb wasn’t enough already) Morty ogles Donna’s physique in Michael’s presence. (Michael seems to have no problem with this.) Similarly, not recognizing his grown-up daughter, Michael calls her a “looker” and describes her as “chesty.”

Michael slows down time to zoom in on a busty woman jogging. Other women’s cleavage is highlighted throughout the movie. Donna dons tight-fitting nightwear. Men are shown in their underwear. One wears a very small and tight Speedo. A sight gag involves the universal remote being found in Michael’s pants and played off as an erection. Add to this mess several gay and sex-change jokes.

Violent Content

A few instances involve Michael freezing time in order to inflict pain on others. After being treated unfairly, he slaps his boss several times. Later, he’s even more violent with Donna’s new husband, kicking him repeatedly in the crotch. (That’s after he tries choking him in real time.) When a bratty kid makes fun of his son, Michael arranges things so the taunter gets hit in the face with a baseball. (Especially disturbing is the fact that both father and son stand there laughing as the boy runs off hurt.) Michael also purposefully drives over this boy’s expensive toy.

Michael tries to tackle Morty, but ends up falling down. He smashes into a table, breaking it. He also falls backward when a dog jumps on him, causing him to hit his head. A nurse gets pushed with a needle in hand, sending it into his own arm.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word is said once and gets (not-quite) cut off another time. The s-word appears nearly a dozen times (and is also used by kids). God’s name is interjected inappropriately almost 20 times (twice it’s combined with “d–n”), and Jesus’ gets misused twice. Almost three-dozen milder profanities are uttered, including a handful of sexually crude terms. Rude hand gestures are made.

Drug and Alcohol Content

When Michael experiences the real-life power of the universal control for the first time, he chalks it up to an acid trip caused by mixing large doses of cough medicine with sugary snacks. His strange behavior prompts his young daughter to ask him if he’s smoked crack. Michael tells the brat’s mother that the kid has been smoking a cigar laced with marijuana. Michael’s mother tells her son to “stay off the bong pipe.”

A bar scene shows beer bottles, and toasts at a workplace party and a wedding both include people drinking champagne. Michael suggests to a group of clients that they head to a restaurant where they can do Jell-O shots till they “puke.”

Other Negative Elements

Angry at how he’s been treated at work, Michael takes it out on his young son, even screaming an obscenity at him. After his son and daughter try to help him with his work, he lambastes their efforts as “stupid.” Later, the young kids dismiss watching “kiddie” programs on TV, instead opting for a gory CSI episode.

A dog is briefly shown relieving itself. Michael plants his boss’s face in his backside, breaking wind while time is paused. He also makes a hand gesture as if he were shooting himself in the head. His boss jokingly makes a comment about slitting his wrists, and a work client sarcastically speaks of castrating himself. In the future, Michael discovers that one of his company’s overworked partners committed suicide after the stress of the job got to him.

As a kid, I remember loving Super-Sour Balls. They were massive, tennis ball-sized candy orbs that took days, sometimes weeks to eat. I’d slobber through that hard outside layer lick by lick, my face puckering with each tart taste. And at times I’d wonder if I would ever finish. But after hours of patience and perseverance (not to mention wasted time), eventually I’d work my way to the tiny, sweet core made of pure bubble gum. It was the Mount Everest of candy adventures, and obviously, I wanted to savor the moment of triumph. Unfortunately, the makers of Super-Sour Balls had other plans—the gum usually lasted for all of five minutes.

I can’t help but think of Click as a giant Super-Sour Ball. Here is a genuinely creative idea—albeit a mishmash of concepts from Back to the Future, It’s a Wonderful Life and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol . A man gets taken on a journey through his life and discovers that what he’s living for isn’t really what he wants. In the process of visiting his future, he finds he’d much rather treasure his today and those around him who make that today so wonderful.

Sweet message. And for the scant few moments it can be savored, Click conveys it with gusto. One poignant scene (almost an oxymoron considering Sandler’s presence) involves Michael rewinding again and again his elderly father saying, “I love you” to his future self—despite the fact that Michael is undeserving of such affection at that point. It’s a tragically beautiful picture of the desire that exists in each of us to be cherished.

And now for the surrounding super-sour part. Nonstop sexual jabs and eyesores. Foul language, much of which is heard escaping from the mouths of kids. Mean-spirited kicks to the crotch. And unwanted drug references.

Believe me, I wanted to like this movie. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a flick with core messages so uplifting and valuable for our worked-to-death society. I wanted to laugh, cry and leave the theater with a desire to love my family more and live every day as if it were my last. Instead, I left wishing I had one of those nifty universal remotes for myself—so I could skip all the tart and tawdry stuff and chew on the five minutes that are worth clicking to.

Marcus Yoars

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Movie Review: Click (2006)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• One response
• --> July 12, 2006

It’s been awhile since we’ve reviewed a movie starring Adam Sandler. Been even longer since we’ve actually looked forward to a movie starring Adam Sandler. But believe it or not, I was actually interested in watching Click . Perhaps I was hoping for comedy genius to strike again for him (see “Waterboy” or “Happy Gilmore”) — after all the premise for Click seemed ripe for the picking; an out of luck guy gets a remote control that can change ever aspect of his life. Boy oh boy could I ever be so let down.

Now don’t get me wrong, the movie isn’t particularly bad. It’s just not what I expected. Click is — gasp — actually more of tear-jerker, quasi-drama than a comedy. While there are several funny moments in the movie, it is really a heartfelt movie chronicling life and expressing how one should accept the little nuances and aggravations, as these are the things that make our lives complete. The ultimate problem, from my viewpoint, is the director (Frank Coraci) really isn’t sure which way he wants the movie to lean. Meaning, although Click is supposed to be a comedy — it doesn’t quite live up to it. And although the movie is supposed to be a drama — it doesn’t quote live up to that either.

That being said, the movie is well acted. Adam Sandler clearly tones down his typical idiot act and does surprising well (he also did well in “Punch-Drunk Love”). Christopher Walken is ALWAYS a pleasure to watch. That man simple transcends all boundaries. Kate Beckinsale should have been naked (she should ALWAYS be naked).

More importantly, Click will have you thinking about all the stupid things in your life (puking on your mother-in-law, snorting Draino, etc) and wondering whether you’d fast forward through them or plod along. Good idea, just could have been presented a bit better. For the most part, however, you’ll enjoy the movie and if you’re not careful (or if you have a body full of estrogen) you may even find your eyes welling up with tears.

Tagged: death , family , time travel

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: Click (2006)' has 1 comment

July 21, 2007 @ 8:07 am just-4-teens

worth watching even if its only the once.

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Clickbait review – silly Netflix thriller series isn’t worth clicking on

The eight-part drama entices with a whodunnit of the anonymous internet but diverts to a feather-thin saga of red herrings that is more irksome than interesting

C lickbait, an eight-part Netflix thriller series, is at least well-named. The Australian-American co-production entices you with a mystery whodunnit orchestrated by unseen villains of an anonymous, viral internet, but diverts to a feather-thin saga of red herrings and duality that is more irksome than interesting, with a roving perspective more dabbling than deep. Its ominously scored trailer suggests suspense, marking it as another entry in, as Slate put it recently, the clickbaitification of Netflix – cheaply produced, fast-churned, deceptively bland series designed to keep you watching.

Created by the Australian showrunner Tony Ayres and fellow Aussie Christian White, Clickbait begins with a disappearance: that of Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier) a physical therapist and consummate family man in Oakland, California, though the show is clearly filmed elsewhere (Melbourne, Australia). The day after a fight with his sister, Pia (Zoe Kazan), a suspicious video is posted online in which a bruised and bloodied Nick holds a sign that reads “I abuse women,” and “At 5 million views, I die.”

That comes as a shock to Pia and Nick’s wife, teacher Sophie (Betty Gabriel), who vigorously defend his reputation – ultimately, Clickbait’s main preoccupation – as the incompetent police investigation unfolds. Each episode assumes a different main perspective – first Pia, then Detective Rohan Amiri (Phoenix Raei), Sophie, Nick’s online mistress Emma (Jessica Collins), scruple-less reporter Ben Park (Abraham Lin), the brother of a woman found through the investigation (Daniel Henshall), and the Brewers’ eldest son, high-schooler Ethan (Camaron Engels).

Yet Clickbait feels consistently narcissistic – a fantasy of how one man’s disappearance would derail those around him, how the women he loved would maintain his innocence, and how quickly and destructively everyone else would assume the worst about his character, because, you know, that is what happens these days.

Clickbait is yet another digital-concerned show/film that gestures at big ideas about the internet – catfishing, cancel culture, surveillance, etc – but fails to capture the contours of life on it, both on an emotional level and on an aesthetic one. The copyright-dodging facsimiles here (“QueriNow” as Google, various fake dating sites, rip-offs of Facebook and Reddit, texting interface that looks more 2011 than 2021) are budget practical but ultimately distracting, giving the show the feel of an askew frame – off-balance, squinted, a simulacrum of digital life that feels cheap and badly distilled into not-quite-plausible bogeymans.

The horror in Clickbait, so much as there is any, is in people’s complete callousness in the face of grief, though the show stops short of illustrating how the internet’s infinite bullhorn allows for people to gawk at others’ pain. The masses here (the hordes of journalists outside the Brewers’ house is a consistent plot point) exist merely as a blanket condemnation.

Other elements of societal commentary are similarly boiled down to tick marks. Race goes questionably unmentioned until the sixth episode, when Sophie remarks that Pia should be wary of taking Ethan, a black teenager, to the Oakland police, written with all of the nuance of “hey, we know we need to say something here!” The use of various potentially dystopian tech – geo-tagging, hacking, crowdsourcing, device tracking – are shoehorned in with “I read an article” details and implications.

But that is perhaps analyzing above the show’s weight. Ultimately, the bar for a series like Clickbait – dropped all at once, aimed to be consumed wholesale on your laptop – is that it delivers on its hooks, and I can’t even say it’s compulsively watchable. None of the characters are granted enough depth to lodge in your psyche even when consumed over the course of several hours. Detective Amiri, a Muslim-American with ex-wife, toddler and concerned immigrant family, is offered the most intriguing and under-represented backstory, but it goes no farther than the second episode. Somewhat promising sexual tension between Amiri and Pia is, likewise, stiltedly hinted, stunted and then abandoned.

Pia and Sophie’s rivalry for Nick’s attention and inevitable reconciliation never extends beyond narrative convenience, and the female characters as a whole remain almost solely defined by their connections to Nick and feelings about him. Gabriel and Kazan attempt to deepen the scant characterization but end up doubling down on one note – for Kazan, stomping exasperation; for Gabriel, chastened fury – to the point of annoyance.

Even the show’s central mystery – what kind of guy Nick Brewer was, and what happened to him – fades by the middle episodes, as Clickbait pedantically suggests we’re in the wrong for assuming, with evidence, that a guy’s decency is suspect. The resolution of the numerous plot twists are increasingly ludicrous and deliberately indiscernible to the audience, given the information presented. True to title, Clickbait head-fakes, but not to a place you’re likely to relish.

Clickbait is available on Netflix on 25 August

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“Clickbait” is a reminder of why Netflix series became such hits in the first place. A cast of recognizable, serviceable actors dive with melodrama and zeal into a narrative that defies logical sense but moves at a breakneck pace, ends on cliffhangers like clockwork, and incorporates just enough zigs and zags to keep viewers guessing. The miniseries’ title is accurate enough: “Clickbait” grabs you, whizzes you along, and leaves you feeling satisfied before you forget everything you just watched. It’s not sophisticated, but it is highly bingeable, and its eight episodes are consistently outlandish enough to keep you watching.

The miniseries from Australian creators Tony Ayres (whose name you may recognize as being affiliated with another buzzy, goofy show called “The Slap”) and Christian White follows a family caught up in a bizarre, only-of-this-moment mystery. Husband, father, brother, and son Nick Brewer ( Adrian Grenier ) appears one day in a viral video, holding a series of signs that say “I ABUSE WOMEN” and “AT 5 MILLION VIEWS, I DIE.” The video burns through the Internet, amassing thousands of clicks in minutes, taking over news networks, and becoming the only one thing anyone is watching on their phones, tablets, computers, or TVs.

Who is Nick Brewer? “Clickbait” attacks that question from two different angles. First consideration goes to Nick’s family: his shocked and enraged sister Pia ( Zoe Kazan ) and mother Andrea (Elizabeth Alexander), and his numb and confused wife Sophie ( Betty Gabriel ) and their two sons Ethan ( Camaron Engels ) and Kai ( Jaylin Fletcher ). The Brewers live in a small Oakland community where everyone seems to know everyone, and soon what is happening to Nick takes over their lives. Sophie’s schoolteacher colleagues whisper after her; Ethan and Kai’s classmates turn on them; and reporters camp out outside their house. And the question no one can answer is: Why would this happen to Nick? Or, on the flip side: What did Nick do to make this happen?

The spontaneous, impulsive Pia, whom Kazan permeates with jittery energy, refuses to stand aside and wait for the police to do their jobs. “This video is not a confession. It’s a death threat,” she says, and she turns to hacker friend Vince (Jack Walton) to look into Nick’s online life and help her investigate on her own. Her other ally is Detective Roshan Amiri ( Phoenix Raei ), a missing persons detective desperate to prove himself and earn a promotion into homicide. As they pursue a number of leads—was Nick seen somewhere; where were the videos of him filmed; did he disappear on the way to work?—they tumble down a rabbit hole that suggests Nick wasn’t the loving family man he seemed to be. One dating app profile appears, then another, and another. With Nick abducted and unable to speak for himself, it’s up to his family members and the others involved in his case to try and piece together who Nick really was.

Each of the eight episodes of “Clickbait” focuses on a different character, with episode titles like “The Sister,” “ The Detective ,” and “The Wife.” First up is Pia, who takes everything personally and who feels guilty about her last interaction with Nick. Next is Sophie, who has a secret of her own and is trying to hold the family together. Later on are Ethan and Kai, who fear the worst but whose lives spent entirely on social media give them a different, nearly symbiotic, relationship with what is happening to their father. And Roshan and journalist Ben Park ( Abraham Lim ), who see in this case an opportunity to advance their careers, also get their own standalone episodes—and their choices serve as a commentary on the very “clickbait” nature of the show’s content.

That shift in perspective per installment isn’t so drastic that the “truth” of events changes from person to person, and that restraint is the right choice. “Clickbait” is already so reliant on jarring narrative reveals (often complemented by Kazan’s stricken, mouth-agape face) that experimenting with subjectivity vs. objectivity would have been too much. Instead, each focused chapter allows a peek into characters’ interior lives. The actors grab onto those opportunities and sprint forward, and the series benefits from their lack of artifice.

Kazan is the series’ anchor as the brash Pia, all contemptuous energy, guilty glares, and stomping strides, and she sparks well against Gabriel’s Sophie, who is more contained and constrained. “Clickbait” attempts to make a point about how the white Pia can be hysterical in a way that the Black Sophie can’t, and although the series doesn’t take the idea quite far enough, at least it raises it. The same nod of acknowledgment applies to Roshan’s homelife, which includes his family speaking Persian and Roshan’s time praying at a mosque. It’s depressingly rare in Hollywood for an actor of Iranian descent to play a character of Iranian descent who isn’t a terrorist, and Raei has the right kind of bearing to fall into fairly handsome, slightly smarmy cop roles. Is there a “Law and Order” spinoff that needs a new detective? Raei could work!

Do any of these performances indicate murky depths or hidden layers? Not really. Whether in the present time period or in flashbacks, the writing doesn’t allow for a ton of tangibly built backstory, and there are a few scenes sprinkled throughout (especially in the fourth episode) that play a bit too much with the “real” world vs. the persona we cultivate online. And some characters feel underwritten, in particular Ethan and Kai, who the series treats more as inconveniences than legitimate narrative concerns.

For the most part, though, the ensemble’s work feels urgent and in the moment, and that matters for a series like this. Ultimately, “Clickbait” doesn’t say anything singular about the anonymity of the Internet, and it flirts with a lot of big ideas it doesn’t pursue as vigorously as it could have: how the community of chat rooms and message boards can lead to insularity and paranoia; the disposability of hookup culture and the way toxic masculinity can manifest within it; and the aforementioned difference in how the media treats people of different races. But a show that went down those roads wouldn’t have been “Clickbait,” and also probably wouldn’t have been this silly or low-brow entertaining.   

Entire series screened for review. “Clickbait” hits Netflix on August 25. 

Roxana Hadadi

Roxana Hadadi is a film, television, and pop culture critic. She holds an MA in literature and lives outside Baltimore, Maryland.

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Film credits.

Clickbait (2021)

450 minutes

Adrian Grenier as Nick Brewer

Zoe Kazan as Pia Brewer

Betty Gabriel as Sophie Brewer

Phoenix Raei as Roshan Amir

Abraham Lim as Ben Park

Camaron Engels as Ethan Brewer

Jaylin Fletcher as Kai Brewer

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Clickbait’ On Netflix, Where A Man Goes Viral For Being Kidnapped And His Sister And Wife Try To Find Him

Where to stream:.

• Stream It Or Skip It

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare’ on Netflix, a Journalistically Sound Examination of a Grueling and Complex Sex-Abuse Case

Stream it or skip it: ‘24 hours with gaspar’ on netflix, an indonesian crime-drama about a detective who's gonna be dead by dawn, stream it or skip it: ‘aníkúlápó: rise of the spectre’ on netflix, a six-episode series sequel to the hit nollywood fantasy film, stream it or skip it: ‘wish’ on disney+, an exercise in corporate self-congratulations.

Naming your show  Clickbait invites all sorts of comparisons to actual clickbait, and that’s definitely not a great thing. People hate clickbait, with its misleading headlines and pictures. So inviting comparisons to the thing that people who use the internet (i.e. everybody) hate the most puts the show at a disadvantage. So, is  Clickbait the narrative equivalent of its namesake?

CLICKBAIT : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A family dinner celebrating the senior member’s birthday. A cake is brought in. Everyone looks happy except the woman sitting at the end of the table.

The Gist: For some reason, Pia Brewer (Zoe Kazan) sees the “group present” given to her mother Andrea (Elizabeth Alexander) by her brother Nick (Adrian Grenier) and his wife Sophie (Betty Gabriel), she starts going off. She more or less says that Nick is controlled by Sophie, which leads Nick to lose his stuff and demand that she “take your shit and get out!”. Zoe decides to go clubbing and get stinking drunk.

As she’s sitting in the club bathroom, she’s swiping on a dating app and responds to someone named “Woody.” Right as she gets up, she drops the phone in the toilet. She rushes home, puts the phone in a container of her roommate’s rice and passes out.

Pia goes to work the next day as a nurse, and one of her teen patients, Vince (Jack Walton), shows her a viral video of a beat-up man holding a sign that says “I ABUSE WOMEN”, then another one that says, “AT 5 MILLLION VIEWS I DIE.” Pia is shocked to see that the man holding the sign is Nick.

She has a hard time believing Nick would do what he says on the sign or run afoul of someone that would threaten to kill him. The two of them are very close, and his job — a physical therapist at a local college — doesn’t put him in harm’s way. She finds out from his work buddy Matt Aldin (Ian Meadows) that he was supposed to be in an early meeting, but he never showed up.

She goes to Nick’s house to join Sophie and her nephews Kai (Jaylin Fletcher) and Ethan (Camaron Engels), and the two women decide to go to the police, as the view count starts moving into the hundreds of thousands. Roshan Amir (Phoenix Raei), a detective in Missing Persons, takes the case and says he’ll look into who’s hosting the video and see if it can get taken down. But as the video spreads around, the hit count increases even faster.

A second video pops up, where Nick holds a sign saying “I KILLED A WOMAN”, but in different writing that’s not his. Det. Amir pairs up with a homicide detective, Zach De Luca (Steve Mouzakis), but neither of them can get the video taken down, since it’s hosted overseas. One thing that De Luca wonders is what that sign means. Pia tells off both cops and she and Sophie storm out.

Vince promises Pia that he and his buddies on a Reddit-style board will help scour the video for clues, and one clue actually leads the cops to the van where the video was made. But by this time, the original video has vaulted past 5 million views.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Clickbait  has the piecemeal feel of a mystery thriller like  Who Killed Sara?

Our Take: The “clickbait” conceit for  Clickbait  more or less lasts one episode. Why? Because by the time the episode is over, the video that Nick is in is already over 5 million views. The only suspense at that point is whether Nick is going to survive or not, and it doesn’t take long to figure that out.

After that’s pushed out of the way. the series, created by Tony Ayres and Christian White, becomes a pretty standard whodunit/whydunit show, with elements of people with secret lives and things not being what they seem thrown into the mix.

As the case progresses, the perspective shifts: In the second episode, for instance, we see Det. Amir deal with Det. De Luca’s mistrust, see him interact with his family, and find out that he and Pia had an interaction before the case brought them together. The third episode concentrates on Sophie, and so on. At some point, we even get perspective from Nick’s older son Ethan.

Shifting those perspectives while telling a cohesive story isn’t easy to do, and so far, Ayers and White are able to tell the story even while the center shifts from character to character. How long they’ll be able to do that as things get more complex is anyone’s guess.

The heart of the show, though, is Kazan, and we generally like where she takes Pia. She is playing her emotions right on the surface, which is a good contrast to how Gabriel plays Sophie, a woman who wants people to take their shoes off indoors and use coasters, even as she is desperate to find Nick. But since we’re not sure where the anger she displays at the beginning of the episode comes from, and that it gets rechanneled into her anger at the cops for questioning her and Sophie while Nick is missing, makes us wonder if her story is being unnecessarily piecemealed out to the viewers.

Grenier is fine, but he’s more of a peripheral piece, given that we’ll see him mostly in flashback. The rest of the cast also works well. It’s just that we’re not sure if the story in  Clickbait is interesting enough to follow, especially when it’s unnaturally larded down with tech fakery (if someone can explain what “geonicking” is, we’re all ears) for no other reason to keep the online connection when it’s not necessary.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Pia and Matt go with Det. Amir when the truck is found. She stands by as a SWAT team opens the truck. Is Nick in there?

Sleeper Star: Raei does yeoman’s work as Det. Amir; diving into his life in the second episode seems unnecessary on the surface, but that’s through no fault of his. We actually spend most of that episode rooting for him.

Most Pilot-y Line: We have no idea why there’s a second video, other than as a plot contrivance so the cops can take the case more seriously. Also, we know Vince is a teenager, but even teenagers have the sense to not lunge and make a pass at the thirty-something Pia while she’s trying to look for her friggin’ brother.

Our Call: STREAM IT. There’s something about  Clickbait that seems a bit off, whether it’s the flat plot or the concentration on characters that are less than interesting. But Kazan puts in a magnetic performance, and that may be more than enough to keep viewers watching through a mystery that stumbles out of the gate, weighed down by technological nonsense.

Will you stream or skip the mystery thriller #Clickbait on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) August 26, 2021

Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream  Clickbait On Netflix

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Season 1 – Clickbait

Where to watch, clickbait — season 1.

Watch Clickbait — Season 1 with a subscription on Netflix.

What to Know

With an array of flashy, half-formed ideas and thin characterizations, Clickbait is more akin to its namesake than the deeper show it aspires to be.

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Christian White

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endev42 - documenting the meaning of life

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• Sep 11, 2022

Click - Movie Review

As with all movies on this website, our goal is not to provide a complete synopsis of the movie, but rather to document how the movie relates to the meaning of life. With that said, be forewarned, there are still spoilers ahead.

Click is a 2006 comedy film directed by Frank Coraci , starting Adam Sandler as Michael, Kate Beckinsale as his wife Donna, and Christopher Walken as Morty—inventor of the infamous remote.

What if you could skip all those moments in life that you don't like? All those times you sat in traffic, or got into an argument, or had to sit through a boring dinner with the in-laws? Michael Newman is given this opportunity one night after he enters a Bed Bath & Beyond store and wanders on to the back through a door with a sign above it that just says "Beyond."

There he meets a strange inventor named Morty (who as it turns out is actually the angel of death). Michael goes on to tell the angel of death that he is just looking for a universal remote, which he would get. The only catch is that it controls his own personal universe, not just his TV and garage door.

Michael takes the remote home and quickly finds that he can fast-forward through all the times he doesn't like, slow-motion the times he does (though he only uses this once that I recall to watch a woman jogging), and even relive some of his fondest memories (however warped they may have been).

Morty would throughout the story give advice to Michael. For example, in the following conversation Michael confides that he wants to fast-forward to his promotion.

Morty: Consider the leprechaun.

Michael Newman: What?

Morty: The one in the cereal commercials.

Michael Newman: 'They're magically delicious'?, That guy?

Morty: He's always chasing the pot of gold, but when he gets there, at the end of the day, it's just corn flakes.

Why is the significant? All too often in life we're too anxious or can't want to find out what will happen in the future. In Michael's case, he is chasing the promotion and not spending time with his family. How many times have we all done this?

The remote is also artificially intelligent. It learns to auto-program itself based on your previous choices. Michael is soon caught up in a loop where he just keeps fast forwarding through arguments, boring things, sex, and everything else he no longer wants to skip ahead through. Yet, there is nothing he can do about it. It is too late.

Soon he finds his ex-wife married another man, his kids are all grown up, his father died, and yeah ... life has just passed him by while he was on auto-pilot. But, he is the CEO of the company, finally. Not to mention architect of the year. But, that pot of gold he had been chasing, well, it is all cornflakes in the end and he now lives alone.

His son takes a job at the same company and starts to follow in his footsteps—putting his job before his family. Michael, close to death and on life support, unplugs the very machines keeping him alive, and chases his son out into the rain to give him one last piece of advice, Family, family... Family comes first. Michael dies shortly thereafter.

Then he wakes up on the Bed Bath & Beyond bed he fell asleep on before he got the remote. He decides to change his life, live it differently. Michael Newman becomes a new man.

What is this film telling us about the meaning of life? It is telling us that whatever we pursue, life is too short to skip ahead through the times we don't like, and we cannot get caught up chasing pots of gold when what really has the most value is often right in front of us —family, love, and everything in between.

We rate the movie:

Overall - 5

Meaning of Life Relevance - 6

Uniqueness – 7

If you saw the movie, what did you think? Comment below and let us know.

#family #love #work

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