PREMIERE.COM REVIEW (posted 4/11/03)

Calling an Adam Sandler comedy mindless and juvenile would be redundant. So let's skip the part about the contrived plot, the toilet humor (yes, fart, vomit, and penis jokes), and the letdown of seeing Sandler and Jack Nicholson in such shlock after their first-rate performances in Punch-Drunk Love and About Schmidt, respectively.

Despite all this, the film does boast a stellar cast including several cameos, none of whom seem to mind coming off silly. The film centers around rage-repressed Dave (Sandler in familiar territory here) and his court-appointed guardian and anger management counselor Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson).

Early on, Buddy's program demands group-therapy sessions with ticking time bombs Luis Guzmán and John Turturro. Later steps run Dave afoul of the likes of Woody Harrelson (in drag), Heather Graham (in her underwear), and prospective group member Bobby Knight (in denial). The cameo list is endless, and watching familiar faces pop up every few minutes is almost entertaining enough to make you forget that you are watching a film that ultimately doesn't make any sense.

Almost.

The filmmakers try to dig themselves out of this hole by wrapping the whole package up with a The Usual Suspects-style "explanation," with Marisa Tomei stepping in as Management's Keyser Soze.

Admittedly, it's great to see Jack back in a screwball comedy (in one scene he knowingly tosses a golf club aside before smashing a car window with a baseball bat) and to watch some gifted actors goof off with one another. But their efforts are wasted on a half-baked script helmed by Naked Gun 33 1/3 director Peter Segal.

Up onscreen, everybody seems to be having a grand old time. Unfortunately, it appears that the actors are having more fun than the audience.

—Scott Warren

Don't get mad, get . . . therapy? From director Peter Segal (Tommy Boy) comes this comedy starring Adam Sandler as a mild-mannered businessman sentenced to anger management sessions after losing his cool on an airplane. Unfortunately, his loose-cannon therapist (Jack Nicholson) could use a chill pill himself.

The Bottom Line: The pairing of Nicholson and Sandler is worth getting worked up over. (Columbia)