Self Control

After watching nine tenths of this movie I was inclined to give it a very bad mark like a 3 or 4: an idiotic scenario and a succession of dull gags, episodes and scenes which not even the enormous talent of Jack Nicholson could save. But suddenly the manner of the movie changes in the last scenes which are gorgeous and even give a quite original meaning to the whole story. If it's not enough to compensate us for the dullness felt till then at least it brings the movie's mark a few points up in my opinion. The scenes at the baseball stadium and the final ones which follow immediately are indeed extremely good comedy scenes. Therefore if you go to watch this movie, have the patience of waiting for its last tenth because it's worth it.

This movie works especially because of Jack Nicholson. The gravitas he brings into his role (especially considering the really crazy things he's doing here) helps a lot improve a not perfect script. And even if some inconsistencies are explained (the airplane "incident"), it still would not make a lot of sense.

It actually doesn't. But with Jack, you just bare with it/him and suspend your disbelief, just like that. Of course many will watch it (or have so), because of Adam S. I myself am not the biggest fan of his "comedy" work. Though I have to say I loved him in some dramas he did. Here it seems, he get pulled into the movie by Jack, who has complete control of the movie ...

Adam Sandler (Dave Buznik) is a mild mannered and submissive business man with an apparent knack for getting himself into unfortunate and disastrous situations. After a very small misunderstanding aboard an aeroplane escalates out of control, Dave is sentenced to Anger Management at the hands of Jack Nicholson (Buddy Rydell)

Dr. Rydell is a therapist with a tendency for the unusual. As the therapy progresses things seem to get worse and after another huge slice of misfortune, Dr. Rydell is forced to move in with Dave and conduct 30 days of intensive Anger Management.

With good comic performances from Sandler and especially Nicholson and some hilarious interaction from the support cast 'Anger Management' is certainly not short of laughs; but it does seem to get a little muddled along the way. That said the movie finishes well (although totally unbelievable) and ends up as a comedy film you'd be silly to miss out on.

7/10

This is a pretty good romantic comedy with silly bits tossed in (like the squeaky toy bear). This is the first Sandler performance I've really liked a lot, and while Nicholson is really just tossing it off, let's face it, his throwaways are frequently better than the best from most other actors. Here the match - Sandler at his most restrained, Nicholson getting sloppy - works very well, as each becomes a complement to the other, which is wholly in keeping with the characters and their situation. The supporting cast is also doing very well. And the film is well-made: possibly even too much so, as for instance with the cinematography, which is of a high quality that would suit a heavy dramatic film.

There are definitely some laugh-out-loud high moments along the way, and very few low moments. Not a great movie, but definitely a movie you can spend an evening with and think it money well-spent.

What is the funniest thing about this comedy? Adam Sandler? Hardly. The best thing about this movie is Jack Nicholson. he's the sole reason this movie is funny.

So, Dave (Sandler) is this geeky guy, who has never lost his temper in his life, who by fault of an mistake in an airplane is ordered by a judge to see a anger consultant Buddy Rydel (Nicholosn), whose unorthodox anger management methods soon drive this mosey man crazy. And then there's Dave's personal problems with his girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei).

As for comedy Anger Managment flows pretty nicely and the jokes are mostly in their correct places and it has very few awkward moments, which seldom plague comedies of this particular genre.

Can't actually think of anything extremely negative to say about it, I'm very pleasantly surprised by the flick, it gave me good laughs and it will probably last multiple viewings, thanks to Nicholson, who really keeps this movie above the gray mass of comedy sea.