Anger Management

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Anger Management ★★ 2003 (PG-13)

Disappointing comedy has mild-mannered, confrontation-averse Dave (Sandler) forced to attend anger management therapy after a misunderstanding on an airplane. Crazed anger therapist Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson) is of the opinion that Dave isn't angry enough on the outside, so he proceeds, in increasingly ridiculous ways, to make him…angry, disrupting Dave's life and his relationship with girlfriend Linda (Tomei). While attempting to play off the two leads' screen and public personas, it succeds only rarely, due mainly to a weak script that takes the easy way out whenever it's offered, and by-the-numbers direction. Nicholson's obvious glee at not having to be restrained makes some scenes work on a pure comic level, while Sandler seems right at home, back in his element, after the smart comedy of “Punch-Drunk Love.” 101m/C VHS, DVD, UMD . US Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman, Allen Covert, Lynne Thigpen, Kurt Fuller, Jonathan Loughran, Krista Allen, January Jones, Woody Harrelson, John Turturro, Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Kevin Nealon, Harry Dean Stanton; Cameos: Bobby Knight, John McEnroe; D: Peter Segal; W: David Dorfman; C: Donald McAlpine; M: Teddy Castellucci.