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Bedtime Stories (2008)

Director: Adam Shankman

Time Out rating

Average user rating

47 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Audiences know what they’re getting with the annual Big Disney Christmas Movie: heroic kids, evil adults, and a bumbling hero caught somewhere in between. This year’s chump is Adam Sandler, essaying his usual bipolar man-child schtick as Skeeter Bronson, the handyman at a grand hotel built on the site of the Mom ’n’ Pop motel where he grew up, who is nonplussed when the tales he concocts for his niece and nephew begin to have eerie parallels in real life.

‘Bedtime Stories’ starts well, with Sandler’s naturally acerbic persona and wilfully erratic turns from Guy Pearce and Russell Brand serving to offset the script’s more schmaltzy moments. But it descends into pathos, undermined by an insipid romantic subplot and the usual platitudinous guff about self-belief. Insult is added to injury by a series of reactionary, misinformed anti-eco gags and a distressing but inevitable cameo from Rob Schneider as a Native American.

Author: Tom Huddleston 2008-12-16 11:41:13

Time Out London Issue 2000/2001, Dec 18-31, 2008

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User reviews of this film

leah and ellie said...

Posted on Jan 10 2009 11:23 this film is brill
worth watching
very funny
good family film !
go whatch it !!!!!

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blair said...

Posted on Jan 08 2009 06:35 I wonder how many times this guy had to look in the dictionary to see all those big words.... no one talks like that dude. Ill be seeing the movie tommorow despite what you say

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SamJanjua said...

Posted on Jan 05 2009 19:16 This film was amazing!! I really don't like Russel B but even he was awesome in it!

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vikki said...

Posted on Jan 04 2009 19:04 great flim

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christine green said...

Posted on Jan 04 2009 14:44 Predictable. Funniest part in the film was the guinea pig

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jan 03 2009 23:19 the best thing about this is a cute little guinea pig -which every dumbo in the movie calls a rat-
sandler almost put me to sleep in this total loss ,
it is pulpy -tasteless -forty something lullaby which is meant for family comedy and becomes the most self indulgent retro crap of monty python series all put in one .except there is not a single laugh in this story -if you ignore the wide eyed guinea pig -
who looked just as amazed with his wide eyed wonder at how come this ever got made ,
stay home and go to bed

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prima j janelle said...

Posted on Jan 03 2009 01:15 i am going to see it wiv ma family and it looks wicked lol.i love my fans
i hope u love prima j.

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jade said...

Posted on Jan 02 2009 11:45 i am going to see this film and i am very i would say to everyone that it is a great film because my mate said it is fantastic and it is hard to empress her so good for that

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Victoria said...

Posted on Jan 02 2009 11:09 I wasn't really impressed. I thought it was going to be excellent like they said in the newspapers, but when I came out of the cinema I wasn't impressed. I much prefered Inkheart.

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tom said...

Posted on Dec 31 2008 10:15 the best movie ever
go to it

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Ellie said...

Posted on Dec 30 2008 21:44 Im goinnng too watcch it !

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bob said...

Posted on Dec 30 2008 16:05 it's a great film and great for anyone

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Amiee Jhon Broon said...

Posted on Dec 28 2008 13:57 dont do it its rotten

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Tim Hill said...

Posted on Dec 28 2008 10:39 Yes a genuine 'laugh-out-loud' film ! The quirkyness of Adam Sandler without his regular tendancy to slip into rudeness. Great cameos from his usual friends and the romantic bits were acceptable because the actresses were pretty and could act ! Great to see irreverent pops at eco themes and native americans - silly and non-preachy ! Take the family you can't relax at home with this holiday - take someone else's family too.. you won't feel embarrassed. Sandles clean roks !

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tea.coffee? said...

Posted on Dec 28 2008 02:00 Suprisingly entertaining- I've never seen an adam sandler film before and only watched this one because I got the wrong cinema! but it was funny, not overly sugary, well paced with in jokes for more mature viewers- perfect for the holiday season when many people try to temporarily put aside their usual cynicism.

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