Anger Management Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Feel the love
Let the healing begin
After a misunderstanding aboard an airplane that escalates out of control, the mild-mannered Dave Buznik is ordered by Judge Daniels to attend anger management sessions run by Doctor Buddy Rydell, which are filled with highly eccentric and volatile men and women. Buddy's unorthodox approach to therapy is confrontational and abrasive and Dave is bewildered by it. Then, after yet another mishap, Judge Daniels orders Dave to step up his therapy or wind up in jail. So, Buddy moves in with Dave to help him battle his inner demons. Buddy himself has no inner demons since he acts out at every opportunity and that includes making lewd comments about Dave's girlfriend Linda and goading Dave into confronting every slight, past or present, head-on. But Buddy finally goes too far and Dave must decide whether to crawl back into his shell or stand up for himself. Could it be that Buddy's confounding and contradictory treatment is just what the doctor ordered?
| Adam Sandler | Dave Buznik |
| Jack Nicholson | Dr. Buddy Rydell |
| Marisa Tomei | Linda |
| Luis Guzmán | Lou |
| Jonathan Loughran | Nate |
| Kurt Fuller | Frank Head |
| Krista Allen | Stacy |
| January Jones | Gina |
| John Turturro | Chuck |
| Lynne Thigpen | Judge Brenda Daniels |
| Nancy Walls | Flight Attendant |
| Woody Harrelson | Galaxia/Security Guard |
| Kevin Nealon | Sam |
| Allen Covert | Andrew |
| Adrian Ricard | Rose Rydell |
| Peter Segal |
6.00 out of 10 (26137 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Good, but some ...
posted on 26 Aug 2009Well. Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. Those two guys really rock together. Added with the everlasting hot Marisa Tomei and a good list of guest-stars, including Heather Graham, Woody Harrelson and John Turturro, this movie really keeps you laughing and interested. This Movie really is worth the money, except its way too cheezy and patriotic end.I just can`t agree with this stupid PRO - WAR Statement in this Movie. Of course, since this is a comedy, the propaganda is very low and smart done.Adam Sandlers House is shown quiet a few times during the movie, and there is always the huge advertisement "An Army of One" displayed.Plus in the end you can see, Mr. Rudy Guiliani, the cool guy. Who is so smart and nice n stuff.During the biggest crisis of US-Foreign Policy, this movie just needs to show a little bit of attention to its contributors.And although I really love Adam Sandler as an actor, I really cannot agree with his Pro-War attitude.But, so I go and watch "my" kinda Anti-War Propaganda "Bowling for Columbine" again.I just hope this great country finally excepts this view, and starts to abolish actions that remind me too much of germany in the 1930`s.Cheers,Boris
One of Adam Sandler's best, and one of my new comedy favorites!
posted on 24 Aug 2009This movie is a bit of a gamble for Adam Sandler. This movie really is unlike anything he's done before, because the film doesn't rest entirely on his shoulders. This film rests on the shoulders of Jack Nicholson, how well Sandler and Nicholson play off each other, the script, the impressive array of cameos (including Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, and a surprise appearance by a New York legend), and how well the movie is made overall. Sandler doesn't have too much responsibility here, because the essential goal of his performance is to NOT play the goofy main role he's played so many times before, like in Billy Madison, but to play a weak victim of society, like in Punch Drunk Love. The fact that Sandler has a reduced role is the aspect of the movie may turn some people off, but from my point of view, everything about the movie worked perfectly. This is a twisted, rollicking rollercoaster ride of a black comedy with plenty of laughs along the way. Jack Nicholson gives a brilliant comedic performance of restrained insanity as Dave Buznik's anger management therapist, who is wrongly assigned to crack down on Dave's nonexistent anger problem, and Adam Sandler enjoys his view from the highest point of his career that he hit with Punch Drunk Love, a truly brilliant character drama by Paul Thomas Anderson (although he did slide a bit with the awful Eight Crazy Nights, but it pleased me that even he didn't approve of some of the humor). Again, Sandler has to play the same character he did in Punch Drunk Love, a wimp who is loathed by society and who becomes braver and braver throughout the film as he fights against it, but he has to make his performance funny. I don't know how he does it, but he gives off just as effective a performance he gave in Punch Drunk Love but adds subtle humor to it that pays off and really helps carry the film. There are plenty of near-classic hilarious scenes in the movie that I don't want to spoil. And, again, the supporting cast in this movie is superb, and they all make the movie even funnier. I will close this review with a bold statement: If you ever liked any Adam Sandler movie in any way to any degree, SEE THIS MOVIE NOW, and I guarantee you will laugh. Hell, even if you hate Adam Sandler or you've never seen any of his movies, see this movie anyway! Sandler is on a roll, and this movie proves it!I give this movie 9/10. Excellent comedy! I could see it twice!
Crap...
posted on 20 Aug 2009This is one of the worse movies of the last 5 years that i have watched.The story line was non-existing, the plot was ridiculously predictable, the humour very dry and shallow, I don;t think I laughed in any scene.The only exception to this predicament is Jack Nickolson who gave this charade a bit of gravity.Had it not been for him I don;t think I would have gone past the first 20 minutes. In addition I gave this film 3/10 and had it not been Jack this would have been a 1/10.
Even in the hands of experts, anger's not that funny.
posted on 16 Aug 2009Most everyone who is not a card carrying `arti'st' likes their comedians to be funny. Around the water cooler, a comedian is always defined by his funniest role or craziest bit. At my water cooler, we like Adam Sandler in Wedding Singer, Waterboy and Billy Madison. We're probably going to rent Punch-Drunk Love when it comes out on video. No rush because even though we heard that Adam Sandler is great in the movie, we didn't hear anything about it being very funny.When it comes to Jack Nicholson, we never know what to expect. He's a funny guy and a dramatic guy. I suppose after a movie star/comedian makes a few popular funny movies, he wants to be Jack Nicholson. He wants people to come see his dramatic roles and be just as satisfied as we are with their comic roles. I'm telling my water cooler buddies that if you want to enjoy Anger Management you've got to go into it understanding that it's a Jack Nicholson movie. Jack is overbearing. And he's so Jack Nicholson. You just can never quite figure him out, which is part of the Nicholson mystique I think.I don't believe Adam Sandler can afford to have a mystique. I want to see what I know, and I know funny. He is not very funny in this movie. So, it's best to be caught up in the story instead of the actor. It's a simple scenario; can Sandler's Dave Buznik overcome the constraints of anger management therapy as conducted by Nicholson's Buddy Rydell? Buznik is a nice enough fellow, but he's kind of spineless, which makes it hard to really like him. It also makes it very hard to understand why beautiful girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei) could find any long-term romantic interest there. That she does makes this a more fulfilling movie. In fact, her side of their relationship is really the heart of the film, which makes me think a springtime release date, when love is in the air, is very appropriate.A lot will be written about the movie cameos. There are many top-notch movie shorts in this larger film that could stand on their own very easily. Chicago's John C. Reilly in a diaper was wonderful. Heather Graham at the bar was, well, it was what you'd expect from Heather Graham in a bar. And there are many others. In the end this is a good film with a good heart.
weak
posted on 14 Aug 2009I saw this last night at an advance screening. It was disappointing.The final theme of the movie was, it's ok for a girlfriend to manipulate a guy to get him to marry her. Or... even people that don't seem to have anger problems should learn to suppress their anger.It just wasn't satisfying on the theme of exploring anger, it was more like a typical weak story that didn't go far enough to be interesting.
There may be only one way to enjoy this one.
posted on 31 Jul 2009Adam Sandler is Dave Buznick, an easy going guy who is sent to anger management. There he discovers that this wacky man he keeps seeing (Jack Nicholson) is the head of the group. As Dave begins to realise, he may have been sent to anger management by mistake and also questions Dr. Buddy Rydell's methods.
The movie shocked me as to how unfunny it was, there are numerous ways why this was: *advertised wrongly *we expected too much, expecting very funny material but getting more dramatic turns *just not balanced with comedy and drama levels
Those are the ones off the top of my head but I'm comenting. This didn't really apeal to us and was considered not funny. But now I can see that when IMDb.com says its a drama, they mean it. Watch this expecting veeeeeery funny moments, and you will likely be in for a bad time. The best way to intercept this movie is to expect drama more than comedy. 5.78/10
All of the laughs can be had from the trailer. It sucked me in.
posted on 27 Jul 2009Don't be fooled. Every joke worth laughing at can be found in the trailer of this tired, sequel-like version of Punch Drunk Love. Yes, we see Sandler appearing calm when he should get worked up. How funny. Oh, look, now he's getting worked up. Even funnier.If you need a Sandler movie to make you laugh, rent one of his classics. If you see this, it will only make you angry. And that's no laughing matter.
Suffers from confusion of purpose
posted on 25 Jul 2009The best I can say about Adam Sandler's films is that I don't hate them. Unlike many of his detractors, I find his humor dull rather than obnoxious. But I do have one pet peeve regarding his habit of stealing jokes from recent films then executing them poorly. A case in point: I found the 2000 Farrelly Brothers comedy "Me, Myself, and Irene" forgettable overall, but it did feature an amusingly irreverent scene in which an African-American dwarf limo driver (Tony Cox, who has made a career out of playing characters like this) goes berserk after a white character played by Jim Carrey offhandedly uses the phrase "you people" (in reference to limo drivers, not blacks). Nobody handles material of that sort better than the Farrelly Brothers, and what makes the scene even funnier is that the entire plot hinges on those words carelessly escaping Carrey's lips. This event causes a chain reaction leading to an affair, a divorce, and finally a mental breakdown.The opening scene of "Anger Management" features the same joke. Sandler's character utters the phrase "you people" in front of a black air marshal, who becomes enraged and zaps Sandler with a taser. The joke here is not in any way pivotal to the plot. It's just thrown redundantly into a sequence in which Sandler is accosted by the airplane crew, who misinterpret his behavior as disruptive.Nevertheless, "Anger Management" represents a transition in Sandler's career. He attempts to tone down his persona of the immature man prone to violent outbursts. His character in this film, Dave Buznik, is much more normal and likable than the typical Sandler character. But that's what makes the premise so ironic: "Anger Management" is probably the first film in which Sandler plays a guy who doesn't need anger management. So what is Buznik doing being put in such a program? The way he's treated at the beginning on the airplane is inexplicable. It's like a comedy version of Kafka's "The Trial," where a guy is arrested and sentenced for no apparent reason. He acts perfectly sensible most of the time, and it's the world that's turned against him.Sandler does ultimately resort to some of his traditional antics later in the film, like his run-in with an old bully in a sequence that manages to take potshots at both religion and fat people, reminding me once again how much better the Farrelly Brothers are at handling political incorrectness. But Buznik acts this way only because Jack Nicholson's character provokes, manipulates, and blackmails him. In fact, we begin to realize that Nicholson's purpose isn't to help Buznik control his anger, but quite the opposite--to make him stop holding in his emotions and start being more assertive. The program to which Buznik has been sentenced isn't so much anger management as nebbish management.Although Sandler's jokes are as lame as usual, I did enjoy seeing Nicholson here, probably because he appears to be enjoying himself so much. Of all the celebrated American actors, Nicholson may be the one who looks the most comfortable in a comedy. After all, he has long infused his serious parts with a comic touch. I can't imagine any other actor successfully pulling off a character like Dr. Rydell, a hairy, snorty man, the kind of guy who laughs loudly at his own jokes and will talk for hours when everyone is dying to tell him to shut up but is too intimidated to say anything. Amazingly, Nicholson exudes these traits without losing his usual demented charm. He has a fingernails-on-the-blackboard effect only on Buznik, not on the audience.If Nicholson's role doesn't work as well as Robert De Niro's overbearing CIA agent in "Meet the Parents," that can be blamed on the script, which lacks the focus to tell a real story. It seems to structure itself less like a comedy than like a thriller, with continual shifts in the plot as we are asked to ponder Dr. Rydell's true motives. But it's a bluff: the plot twists are just a cheap way of distracting us from the story's lack of content. The final revelation seems too labored for such lightweight material, and only calls attention to the shapeless quality of the earlier scenes.
Surprisingly effective pairing
posted on 19 Jul 2009This film pairs Adam Sandler with Jack Nicholson with surprisingly effective results.. The two play off each other well, though of the two I'd say Nicholson is hamming it up a lot and Sandler is underplaying believe it or not.. still the pairing works wonders, and Marisa Tomei as Sandler's girlfriend is also quite fetching here. The film has several laugh out loud moments (including a drop dead funny cameo by a certain ex-mayor of New York)... sure the story has its flaws and a section in the middle tends to be rather dull... but it has enough funny moments to make it worth watching. GRADE: B+
Some Good Laughs, But Overall Pretty Typical
posted on 09 Jul 20097 out of 10 A mild mannered businessman (Sandler) has a slight confrontation on a airplane that gets way overblown. He is court ordered to take part in a anger treatment program whose instructor ( Nicholson) seems completely nuts.
His participation just makes him angrier. Things get worse when his instructor decides to give him a more 'aggressive' treatment by moving in with him for 30 days. On the whole this is a pretty good comedy. The sight gags and one liners are funny and come along at a nice pace. The story touches slightly on the absurdities of our modern age. Most notably it looks at the new age psychobabble that is supposed to solve everything, but when it comes right down to it can't hold much water. It also shows how easy it is for someone to get swept up in the nonsense and how hard it is to get out of it. The members of the anger group are definitely a fun bunch. They are perfect victims for the new age trap. Dopey, but still lovably human. The two porn star members are hilarious simply because they seem so out of place. Turturro also scores as Sandlers anger 'buddy'. He comes off with his usual intensity. He makes a good odd pairing with Sandler and one that could have been explored further. It is just as funny and intriguing as Sandlers pairing with Nicholson and maybe even better. The film's weaknesses come from the fact that it is just like every other feel good comedy. It tries so hard to be entertaining that it ends up being silly and forgetable. The film gives us no new insight into the anger management world that really does exist. Some of Nicholson's treatment 'techniques' are ridiculous and bar any type of rational or tolerance. For instance having him get into bed with Sandler and even insist on sleeping in the nude would and SHOULD test anyones patience. You also start to feel a bit sorry for Sandler's character. He is a nice guy that is being put through too much nonsense for no good reason. You, the viewer, start to feel angry just watching it. There is also a running sight gag involving Sandler's pet cat named Meatball. The cat is extremely overweight and Sandler uses the cat as a model for his fat cat line of clothing. The sight of seeing such a fat cat in such absurd outfits is supposed to be funny and cute, but proves to be neither. The cat looks consistently miserable and it is very unhealthy for a animal to be so fat. Sandler's turn as a straight man is a success. Nicholson has just the right angle of the modern day therapist consistently talking in that overly calm, soothing type of voice. His flashes of craziness seem like highlights from his other crazy guy roles. Tomei makes for a nice girlfriend, but by the end this film has shifted too much from a buddy movie to a formulated romance. There is a nice feel for New York City especially Sandler's apartment which seems authentically designed and lighted. The climatic sequence at Yankee stadium is also good. There are also some really good (and funny) surprise cameos. They include Woody Harrelson, Bobby Knight, Roger Clemens, Derek Jeter, Mayor Rudy, and Harry Dean Stanton as a blind man.
Unbelievably John McEnroe's cameo was taken out but can be seen on the deleted scene section of the DVD version. It's pretty good.
You have to like Nicholson and Sandler
posted on 27 Jun 2009(heavy spoilage) This film is for serious fans of Nicholson and Sandler. N's dark mastery of the camera is enjoyable from a technical viewpoint, but the 'diabolical head game' plot is as unsatisfying as some strange fellow forcing his way into one's bed. I doubt many Buddhists will see the film. The monastery scene where Sandler confronts a childhood tormenter is tasteless on a variety of levels and, ultimately, just wasn't funny. Hollywood hasn't got much grasp of the ultimate meaning of life, and rarely carries off a religious reference harmlessly. Humorless, too, were the porno/transvestite references. Sandler needs some device to get access to the baseball diamond at the end. If there is any humor in the Galaxia/Gary thing, I'm missing it. The final toss-off that Sandler's girlfriend was behind the whole plot to toughen him up isn't funny. Yuck. Marisa is cute, but who needs such a woman? I was left to wonder if this is a representative 'New York' movie and if it highlights how disconnected the land of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is from the rest of the country.
You may realize you need an anger management too
posted on 19 Jun 2009I saw this movie just a few minutes ago and I can say I am in quite good moods. So here are the pluses and minuses of 'Anger Management'.+ First of all, this film is not a typical comedy. Nowadays I can hardly find a nice and quite realistic comedy with an interesting unpredictable plot and great cast. So that is why I appreciate those rare movies without hot chicks and romantic silly jokes. Like I have just said, actors are behind hilarious (and yes, I can say the same about Adam Sandler!). He plays an ordinary guy David, who has a marvelous girlfriend, a bad boss and his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, who is her best friend and has a huge penis (well, this part is banal, I can say). However, Sandler fits his role pretty well. I cannot say the same about Nicholson... Because he does it PERFECTLY! I have to admit I love Jack making comedies. He is so expressive!- I am sorry, but the scene on the plane makes me very mad! I am sure I am not a psycho, because, hey, who would not get nervous if a person laughed too loudly when you tried to sleep? Or let me remind you of the first David's visit to Buddy's group. I would really get nervous if someone asked me who I was and did not explain what kind of answer he wanted. So let's face it, the plot is not perfect.The kissing scene is not bad, but I find it quite weird that a man can kiss his girl in the front of people only after a course of anger management. Just weird!7/10
a little too long..
posted on 05 Jun 2009Dig Adam Sandler but this one was ... well too long... !The story took too long to develop.. almost walked out like 3 times... the ending.. was well.. okay... unneeded.. but okay... the characters were "all for naught" by the end of the movie... just my opinion though..
Great Funny Movie
posted on 14 May 2009I was not expecting such a funny movie...Adam Sandler shows his deadpan humor in this movie....and Jack is a classic....I thought this movie was going to be very unfunny from what I heard but I like the way it played out and I could definitely identify with Adam's character taking so much from people and never actually telling them off...What a great movie that wasn't filled with the saving the world, unmasking a goverment conspiracy, or finding the killer.. 8 out of 10
Hilarious!
posted on 08 May 2009This movie was one of the funniest films in the first three years of the century. Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson were excellent in this film! I can't believe that so many people criticized this film. I got this on DVD with low expectations. This movie exceeded my expectations. The basic plot line is about a timid businessman who has to undergo anger management because he got "mad" on a plane. A scene that surprised me was when Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens play a very small part at Yankee Stadium. I was surprised because I was not expecting these two players to appear in the film. The chemistry between Sandler and Nicholson was great. The storyline was believable and the script worked. I also like the music played in this film. Fans of Sandler will be laughing at this film like they never had before. I give this movie a 9/10.
Right film at right time for those trying to appreciate life
posted on 30 Apr 2009A movie comes along showing us at least somewhere in hollywood a film is being made where things can turn out right in a fairy tale way, but with humour and real world laughs. Its a Wonderful Life did it with sentiment and goo, Anger Management had Mayor Giuliani shouting for the angry young man to move on and carry on living. Q Why so many stars in bit parts? A There was no way Sandler characters was going to lose. But that is fantasy, and we in realworld have to learn ourselves from what we experience, so watch the film, get a life and lighten up, or lose! At least we know the former mayor of New York agrees!
nice premise but the sandman fails
posted on 30 Apr 2009its your same 'ole crap from adam sandler. and nicholson sucks only because his character is written by asses. i do recommend this movie to rent however only because of the small characters like luis guzman, john turturro, and john c. reilly who are extremely funny. most of the cameos suck except for woody harrelson's. i liked the premise of the story but after watching it, its like a movie in which adam sandler was being told how to react rather than do his own stuff like big daddy or happy gilmore. the majority of this is like some contrived garbage from the studio execs. anybody could've done nicholson's part. jack doesn't give us the truth or the anger.
Mildly funny movie about a man who gets wrongfully sent to a anger therapist.
posted on 26 Apr 2009Although "Anger Management" is seeing a huge box office success, I wonder how many of its viewers are walking out feeling much left to be satisfied. Continuing on his anger-ridden character(Punch-Drunk Love), Sandler collaborates with Nicholson and pulls off a mildly-funny movie about a man setup by his girlfriend, who seeks a anger management expert to help with their stagnant relationship. Cameos by Woody Harrelson and Heather Graham are funny but sparring and even with Nicholson's charm the movie struggles to find its comical pulse. [Rating - 6/10]
Slightly Disappointing
posted on 30 Aug 2009Let me just say I was in the perfect mood to see this flick and I'm a huge Sandler fan but I was a little disapointed. The film was at times funny and cute but something was just.....missing. Whatever it was it just didn't feel like a typical Adam Sandler comedy. It was more like a romantic comedy gone wrong. This wasn't a horrible movie and I'm sure that if I somehow get forced into seeing "Bulletproof Monk" or "Mailibu's Most Wanted" this one will jump up a few notches. Nothing special except of course....Jack Nicholson. 5/10