Goosfraba. Close your eyes, take a deep breath – say g-o-o-s-f-r-a-b-a slowly. One more time. And again. See how relaxing you feel. This is the mantra for managing anger.
There were two reasons that prompted me to see Anger Management. Marisa Tomei was in it and there was a “brief role in briefs” for Heather Graham – and having recently seen The Guru – it was drool time.
Drooling…
If we all keep drooling
Drooling on all the drooly things around
Oh what joy and peace and contentment
If we could keep drooling all we can
There be, so many…. Cut, cut, cut ( I had to use an electric saw)
I had no idea what to expect. The star cast had Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. Adam is an okay guy who is very funny, especially his body language and dialogue delivery – liked him in Big Daddy, Mr.Deeds, Happy Gilmore. Jack is Jack - gives the impression of a mad eccentric scientist who can be ’’seriously funny’’ or ’’funnily serious’’.
I was not disappointed. This movie is worth 5/5 – it moved at a very fast pace, full of comic situations with excellent script supported with good acting – a must watch film.
The movie was recently released on April 11 and is currently numero uno at the box office. Directed by Peter Segal – this is rated as PG 13 (because of the drooling, I guess) and has been shot on location in NY and LA.
The Plot:
The movie is about a patient, a doctor and the treatment.
# The patient is Adam Sandler as David Buznik who is an ordinary guy who appears calm on the outside but is a tormented soul (Reeper – have mercy on him) inside. Adam bottles up all the pent up anger inside him.
# The doctor is Jack Nicholson as Dr.Buddy Rydell who is an anger management therapist.
# The treatment is highly unconventional
Adam’s humiliation starts since childhood when he has a crush on the neighbor hood girl and she dares him to kiss her – and while doing so he gets bullied by the local tormentor – Arnie – who pulls down his pants and exposes him.
Fast forward to adulthood – Adam is an executive assistant who does all the creative work and his boss (Frank) takes all the credit. Marisa Tomei as Linda is Adam’s girl friend – he is always afraid of losing her and refuses to show his affection to her in public and prefers to shake her hands than kiss her.
A freak air rage incident lands Adam in front of a judge – Brenda Daniels played by Lynne Thigpen who orders him 20 hours of anger management therapy with Dr.Buddy.
The counseling sessions have several interesting characters – Chuck played by John Tarturro is outspoken about his anger and he claims to be half Italian, half Mexican and half Irish (do the math). The group also contains a flashy latino and a couple of adult film actresses. Adam’s initial reaction is to just attend the group session and be done with it. However Dr.Buddy has other plans for him. Adam is paired with Chuck as his “anger buddy” and another freak incident involving assault on a blind man brings him back to Judge Daniels court who threatens him with jail time or 30 days of therapy sessions with Dr.Buddy. Choosing the lesser of the two evils, he agrees for Dr.Buddy’s treatment and allows the doctor to move into his apartment.
The rest of the movie portrays the treatment between Adam and Jack – at one stage one gets confused – who is the doctor and who is the patient. The treatment per se was very unconventional and poor Adam had to witness his girlfriend being stolen from him by Jack. Does Adam get cured – watch the movie to find out.
Performances:
# 1. Adam Sandler, as the seething young man gave a very convincing performance. As the story unfolds, one begins to sympathize with him as time and again, he becomes a victim of circumstances.
# 2. Jack Nicholson as the therapist was excellent. He was able to convey an almost maniac intensity in his performance. Jack and Adam had a very good chemistry between them.
# 3. Marisa Tomei (drool) had a very small role as the girl friend of Adam. She is very supportive of Adam and helps him to overcome his anger.
# 4. John Reilly as Arnie Shankman gave a neat performance as the kid bully who grows up to be a Buddhist monk.
# 5. Allen Covert as Daniels is the ever lurking ex-boyfriend of Marisa – always on the prowl and Adam is uncomfortable with him being around his girl friend, more so because of his reputation of being well endowed.
# 6. John Turturro as Chuck, the anger buddy of Adam – he was very open about his problems and gives a spontaneous performance.
# 7. Heather Graham (still drooling) as the girl picked up by Adam during a visit to Boston, as part of Dr.Buddy’s crazy treatment.
Take aways:
# Quote by Dr.Buddy Rydell: Temper is the one thing you can’t get rid of by losing it.
# The incident on Queensboro bridge where Jack tries his unconventional relaxation techniques of asking Adam to sing “I feel pretty” in heavy traffic. This song becomes the signature tune of his students.
# Proposition by a transvestite to Adam was funny. The transvestites identity gets exposed at the Yankees ball game.
If you ever feel angry or upset, this film is recommended as therapy. It will do you wonders. For more details call 1-800-BUDDY.