Blu-Ray Review: Adam Sandler’s ‘Bedtime Stories’ Family Friendly Entertainment

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Adam Shankman’s “Bedtime Stories” is far from perfect but it also was undeservedly lambasted by critics. Is this great family fare? Heck no, but I’d still take this variation of Sandler’s persona over his cartoonish characters in most of his silly comedies and the movie has an easy-going likability that’s hard to deny. The Blu-Ray leaves a lot to be desired but the movie itself is probably better than you think.

The plot of “Bedtime Stories” is simple enough and something the little ones in the family will probably adore. In fact, Sandler has said he made the film for his kids. Adam plays Skeeter Bronson, a hotel worker who was promised that he would one day take over managing the place but has had to watch fellow employees (including Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless) jump over him on the corporate ladder.

Bedtime Stories was released on Blu-Ray on April 7th, 2009.
Photo credit: Disney

Skeeter ends up having to babysit his sister’s (Courteney Cox) children and discovers that he has the same skill for bedtime stories as his father (Jonathan Pryce) had with him. But his niece and nephew have something more. Whenever they add something to the story it starts to be reflected in Skeeter’s real life.

Bedtime Stories was released on Blu-Ray on April 7th, 2009. Photo credit: Disney

The idea that a child’s imagination can bring about wonderful things is certainly a solid one for fiction and when “Bedtime Stories” sticks to that concept it can be very effective. Keri Russell, as a love interest for Skeeter, is as charming as she usually is (which is very), newcomer Teresa Palmer is interesting, and Russell Brand does very funny supporting work.

Like a lot of “Bedtime Stories,” the film kind of goes off on tangents and isn’t that well-paced. At 99 minutes, it still felt long, which is a product of a screenplay by Matt Lopez and Tim Herlihy that wanders more than it should, usually to fit in cameos by Sandler regulars like Rob Schneider or spends WAY too much time with a bug-eyed guinea pig named, you guessed it, Bugsy.

Despite these flaws, I found “Bedtime Stories” enjoyable. It won’t be the first family movie I reach for with my little ones, but it also won’t be something I dread watching with them. On a rainy Sunday night when you’ve seen the Pixar movies a thousand times and want something new, you could do a lot worse than “Bedtime Stories”.

Having said that, the Blu-Ray is a bit of a letdown. The video is nearly perfect. Disney is rocking the 1080p lately. And the audio in 5.1 DTS-HD fits well. No, it’s the special features that are lackluster, especially for a company that usually rocks in the bells and whistles department.

Disney employs the awesome 3-disc Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy packaging again with “Bedtime Stories” and that earns them a few points, but the total of the bonus features that accompany the movie run less than an hour. There are a few mini-featurettes (and I do mean MINI at under five minutes) about the making of the movie, some deleted scenes, and some outtakes and that’s it. Fans deserve more and this is a film that I expect to quietly build fans over the years.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com