Los Angeles Times
"Hostility and pathos make for a very popular combination in comedy. It worked for Chaplin, and it works for Sandler..." 12/25/2008Hollywood Reporter
"In a modern-day fairy tale about hopes, aspirations and family, Sandler displays a winning form under the light and mischievous direction of BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE's Adam Shankman." 12/22/2008 ReelViews 6 of 10
For Adam Sandler, who has lived most of his on-screen life in the realm of PG-13, Bedtime Stories represents a new direction: family friendliness. With his characteristic sarcasm dialed down and his profanity and sexual humor nearly absent, Sandler half-stumbles his way through this unfamiliar terrain. In the end, however, it's less the lead actor than the writers and director Adam Shankman who make Bedtime Stories forgettable. The premise - that of children's fables coming true - provides the kind of rich tapestry into which a great family film could be woven. Unfortunately, the makers of Bedtime Stories are interested only in cheap humor, surface sentimentality, and quick payoffs. This is a rare time when young ones will get more out of a Sandler movie than their parents, who may have grown up with him when he was on Saturday Night Live...On some level, I suppose Bedtime Stories is attempting to say something about the importance of imagination in real life endeavors but, if that was the goal, the filmmakers might have been advised to take a cue from The Princess Bride. In that movie, a grandfather tells a bedtime story to his grandson and what results is a modern fantasy/comedy classic. But, despite paying lip service to the sort of thing The Princess Bride achieved, Bedtime Stories isn't interested in being creative; it wants to be familiar. It wants to be a PG, Disney-fied Adam Sandler feature, and that's what results. Perhaps there are potential viewers who possess a perverse curiosity to find out what kind of unholy offspring could result from a Sandler/Disney collaboration...The filmmakers likely set out to make a family film for the ages. To a degree, they succeeded - assuming that the "ages" in question are under ten. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
"Bedtime Stories" is not my cup of tea. Even the saucer. Fairness requires me to report, however, that it may appeal to, as they say, "kids of all ages." I am not a kid of any age and do not qualify, but this is a harmless and pleasant Disney comedy...Sandler plays a hotel handyman named Skeeter, which is a name even more unwise than Hussein if you want your child to run for president. His dear old dad ran a family motel at the corner of Sunset and La Cienega, an unlikely story, and was bought out by Nottingham the hotel tycoon (Richard Griffiths), who erected a towering heap of rooms on the site and put Skeeter in charge of changing the light bulbs. Now Skeeter is also in charge of the overnight maintenance work on his niece and nephew while his sister (Courteney Cox) looks for work in Arizona...There are some nice sight gags. One involves a misunderstanding about fire-retardant spray. Another involves Skeeter being bitten on the tongue by a bee. He cannot utter one intelligible word during a crucial presentation to Nottingham and is funny in his desperate attempts. His scruffy friend Mickey (Russell Brand) leaps to the rescue and translates. Mickey is also an employee at the hotel, although anyone looking like him would be barred from any prudent hotel and might excite the curiosity of city health inspectors...And that's about it. The first PG family comedy starring Adam Sandler. Just what you're looking for. Sandler reprises once again his clueless, well-meaning nebbish who wants to be liked. Once again the character relates best to kids, perhaps because there is so much he can learn from them. Once again, the message is that you have to believe. Apparently it doesn't matter so much what you believe. Just the act of believing is sufficient. - Roger Ebert
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