Life on Florida’s West Coast

Bedtime Stories: A Mom Review

I have not seen a film in years that was as outright entertaining from the first frame to the last frame as Bedtime Stories!

My daughter and I made it part of our Christmas Day together to go and see Bedtime Stories and I am thrilled that we did. It made the memory of our day together all that more special. This film is as close to perfect as anything I have seen in a long time.

You can read a synopsis of the film on nearly any movie review website. My “in a nutshell” version is that Adam Sandler’s character agrees to look after his niece and nephew while his sister looks for a teaching job out-of-state, due to the closing of her school. Sandler years to run the hotel his father founded, but later sold to a chain. As Sandler tells the kids bedtime stories, he realizes that elements from the stories are coming true.

The special effects are stunning, adding just the right level of fantasy to the story sequences. Bugsy, the pet guinea pig, is aw-inspiring (as in “Aw! How Cute!”) There are also a couple of very delightful, albeit brief, cameo appearances by other Disney Pixar characters. (Also look for blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances by Carmen Electra as well as Sandler’s wife and one of his daughters.) I cannot remember even a second when the movie slowed down, but I can remember several times I realized I had a huge grin on my face as I was watching.

There is not a single weak link in the cast. Of course, Sandler is charming and easy to sympathize with, Courtney Cox is Sandler’s perfect foil as his sister. Russell Brand, a British import with a pretty much non-existent profile in the United States, is absolutely engaging. There is, of course, even the obligatory and uncredited appearance by Rob Schneider. Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless are the ideal villains for this children’s film, as they is never actually menacing and generally bumbling.

The only objectionable material I can even highlight would be some very mildly suggestive flirting between some of the characters near the beginning of the film. Both a horse and a guinea pig pass gas, but even that is in context of the story. Also, a character does say, “Oh My God.” My daughter picked up on that, but not all viewers may be as sensitive.

My daughter is five and was thoroughly engaged the entire time. She did not even ask to use the restroom during the film, and that is generally something I can absolutely count on her doing. In fact, there was a child in front of us who looked like he was about 18-months-old and although he was fussing and crying before the movie and during the previews, we did not hear a single peep put of him once Bedtime Stories began.

Even with skyrocketing ticket prices, this film is well worth your money.

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