A Typical, But Nicely Done Story
Bedtime Stories stars Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Laura Ann Kesling, Richard Griffiths, Courtney [Edit], and Jonathan Pryce. The film is a fairly straight-forward family adventure in which several typical reoccurring themes or philosophies are presented (like the ‘bad guys’ never win, happy endings, etc.). I don’t have anything wrong with that, and I thought Bedtime Stories did a really good job in keeping both kids and adults entertained for its nearly one hundred minute duration.
The film is told somewhat like a bedtime story, but without being obnoxious at all. At the outset we’re introduced to a young Skeeter Bronson (Sandler), his sister Wendy ([Edit]) and their father, Marty (Pryce). Marty owns a single, cozy hotel in California and is an excellent host and father. His two children help him run the hotel with Skeeter being the more imaginative one and also the one who is more interested in the actual business itself. Marty, for as great as a host and father as he is, is not a good businessman and during difficult times, sells his business to Barry Nottingham (Griffiths) who plans on completely rebuilding and expanding the hotel with his great fortune. The deal was completed with the promise that someday, Skeeter could take over as the owner of this particular hotel (Nottingham has many of them around the world).
Twenty-five years pass, and Skeeter is still working for the hotel, but in maintenance rather than management. Meanwhile, Marty has passed on, Wendy has become married and divorced and has two children, and Barry has developed an unhealthy fear of germs. In addition to Skeeter, Barry also employees Kendall (Pearce), your clichéd corporate phony, who sucks up to his boss but who really only has his own goals and self in mind. Kendall is also dating Barry’s daughter, primarily for his own gains, and coupled with Skeeter’s modesty, is henceforth named the manager of Nottingham’s newest hotel (and Skeeter is once again forgotten).
The plans for the new hotel call for the demolition of an elementary school. Wendy, the school’s principal, decides to go to Arizona for a week to interview for a job. In her absence, her friend Jill (Keri Russell) will watch her two kids during the day, and Skeeter will watch them at night. Skeeter decides to tell them bedtime stories in the evening but finds to his amazement that whatever the kids say as part of the story, somehow, someway, comes true the next day. About a quarter of the film is told in this fairytale story form, whereby full scenes are presented that help explain the story of that particular night, but otherwise the movie takes place in normal reality. I found the mix to be balanced properly and I think that helps make it more interesting for the older audience. Anyway, with the help of the bedtime story magic, Skeeter now has a chance to become owner of the new hotel instead of the conniving Kendall. To avoid potentially spoiling anything, suffice it to say that with the magic of the stories, Skeeter and his family are eventually able to reach a new level of happiness as everything professionally and personally falls into place.
When watching Bedtime Stories, I couldn’t help but think of Back To the Future a time or two, which is never really a bad thing. For a family movie, you can do a whole lot worse, but I can honestly say I haven’t seen a better, modern family film in some time, if not several years. Bedtime Stories won’t have you doubled over in laughter, although maybe it will for the younger audiences, but more importantly it maintains a nice pace with a good, although clichéd plot, with average acting and reasonably interesting characters.
A Bedtime Story For Blu-ray
The Bedtime Stories Blu-ray release is a special one. It’s a three disc set that includes the film on Blu-ray, DVD, as well as a digital copy. As far as picture quality for the Blu-ray, it’s fantastic. You wouldn’t expect anything less from Disney, and especially given that the film was just shot last year. Bedtime Stories looks as crisp and vibrant as you could hope for. There are several scenes with special effects, a large color palette throughout the film, and frankly everything looks super. For audio, the DTS 5.1 audio does great, although this is by far a dialogue driven film so it won’t exactly stress test your system.
Besides including two extra discs that contain the film on DVD and portable formats, there are a few extra features found on the Blu-ray disc:
– Until Gravity Do Us Part – This is a four minute feature that looks at the making of the zero gravity fight scene from one of the bedtime stories.
– To All the Little People – A five and a half minute feature where Adam Sandler is shown hanging out with the costars, including Heit and Kesling.
– It’s Bugsy – Another brief four minute or so feature that is about Bugsy, the CG guinea pig.
– Laughter Is Contagious – Seven minutes of outtakes and bloopers.
– Cutting Room Floor: Deleted Scenes – Nearly eleven minutes of deleted scenes.
– BDLive – BDLive features including the ability to chat with others while watching the movie.
To the summary!
