Anger Management

Making sure not to fix anything that ain’t broke, Anger Management plugs Adam Sandler in as regular guy Dave Buznik. Just like all regular dudes, he has a bit of a temper problem when things don’t go his way, he gets no respect from the higher-ups in his office, and he dates Marisa Tomei. Overall, things look all right for Davey—until a series of misunderstandings (wrongfully accused or not, assaulting women is still illegal) land him in anger counseling, and the eccentric Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson, still crazy after all these years) enters his life. To sooth Buznik’s pulsing rage, the good doctor administers a number of unorthodox techniques on his unsuspecting patient. Many of these gags deliver the long-standing Sandler tradition of wrestling and exchanging punches with unexpected characters—blind men, old men, Buddhist men—leaving us blissfully fat and ignorant of what’s to come. But other than the big two, the rest of the cast seems assembled strictly to show off how many stars (John Turturro, Luis Guzmán, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson…) Sandler can insert in supporting roles and cameos. And while Sandler’s senseless rage dominates, before you can leave the theater satisfied with all the pantsings, wedgies, and destroyed BMWs that define a good movie, be warned: A romantic cheese implosion wrests control of the floaty finale and erases all of those wonderful memories—replacing them with the far more disturbing image of Sandler making out.