I don’t know how many reviews you’ll read about “Anger Management” will start off this way, but… I think you should know going that I am not an Adam Sandler fan. I found him to be mildly funny back in his Saturday Night Live days, with occasional bouts of accidental brilliance. When he made the leap to feature films I wasn’t surprised, as generally everyone on SNL has had the opportunity to make at least one bad film. What surprised me was that Sandler was able to somehow reach an audience large enough to warrant a slew of bad films, eventually making one of the top paid comedy stars today. And never once in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson sitting in a car on a traffic-filled bridge singing “I Feel Pretty.” I probably shouldn’t call Sandler’s early films ‘bad.’ They certainly have appealed to someone. I tend to put stupid humor into two categories. Intelligent Stupid Humor and Stupid Stupid Humor. Sandler’s films always seemed to be on the latter category. But then something happened.

One night, there was a screening for “Mr. Deeds.” I was forced to go because I used to write for a really crappy newspaper that happened to be co-hosting the screening.

That night, something happened to me that had never happened at an Adam Sandler movie. I laughed. I actually enjoyed the film. Sure it was still kind of stupid, but it seemed that it had made the move into that Intelligent Stupid Movie category. The movie was actually funny. Then, a few months ago I saw “Punch-Drunk Love”, which is the Adam Sandler movie for people who don’t like Adam Sandler movies. And now, “Anger Management.”

“Anger Management”, though still far from the best film I’ve ever seen and certainly preposterously unbelievable as far as plot goes, was far more entertaining than I had expected it to be. I actually found myself in Sandler’s shoes as he is faced with ridiculous people on ridiculous situations. I wanted to beat the crap out the people who were telling him to ‘calm down’ when he is in no way losing his temper. I never imagined I would ever identify with one of his characters, ever. But I did, and I enjoyed.

Jack Nicholson’s turn as Buddy Rydell, the ‘Anger Management’ guru was simply amazing. I’m not really sure how much of a performance it was though, as I would expect that this character is probably as close to how Nicholson might be in real life than any other. He is pompous, aggravating, overblown and full believes he is in charge.

The DVD release includes a commentary by Adam Sandler and director Peter Segal, and I think paints an interesting picture of Sandler. He seems to be a pretty quiet guy in real life, and never really gives the impression that he thinks of himself as a superstar. It’s a good commentary, though not necessarily a lively one.

There are two featurettes, one of which gives a good look at the behind the scenes goings-on for the film. It’s a pretty typical featurette, but you can tell that the cast and crew did have a good time making the film. The other featurette is a love-fest all about Nicholson. Everyone gets to wax rhapsodic about what a great guy/actor/person/etc… he is. There’s a lot of gushing going on, but it’s fairly short, so give it a look.

The Gag Reel is pretty funny, but most of it just has the various actors blowing lines by laughing. There are a few cuts of jokes added in, that are much funnier. The deleted scenes are few, and for the most part were cut for good reason. The “Do You Have Anger Problems” game is rather silly. Each of the actors gets to ask you a question about how you should respond to a situation present in the film. It was kind of fun, especially the running gag about the Lexus, but was a bit of a letdown because there was no prize at the end (like an extra gag reel, or the like).

“Anger Management” isn’t a great film, and there are a few painfully unfunny moments, but the performances throughout make up for any of these low spots. And even if Sandler isn’t proving himself to be much of an actor, he is starting to acquire an unusual and almost likable screen presence.

Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Woody Harrelson
Extras: Feature Length Commentary by Adam Sandler & Director Peter Segal, Skull Session – Behind the Scenes Featurette, My Buddy, Jack – Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, “Do You Have Anger Problems” Game.
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1) Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 9/16/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Crude Sexual Content and Language)
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We'll give Anger Management a C+.