Anger Management is surprisingly entertaining. Adam Sandler plays Dave Buznik, a mild-mannered clerk who everyone seems to push around. Even flight attendants ignore him. After an "incident" on a flight, Buznik suddenly he finds himself in court, and sentenced to anger management with Jack Nicholson a.k.a. Dr. Buddy Rydell, as his therapist. And, that, of course, is where the hijinks begin. And how.

The pairing of Sandler and Nicholson is really fun. Well, I guess I should say Nicholson is rather fun, he looks particularly demonic in the role, letting loose with just about every nuttiness possible. Sandler is his usual rather annoying self. All the promise of Punch-Drunk Love have been washed away, here, we're right back to Big Daddy or Happy Gilmore level (Sandler is the film's Executive Producer). In Anger Management, he's that same whinny guy with two or three facial expressions and even less vocal dexterity.

The wonderful Marisa Tomei as Sandler's girlfriend seems sadly under-utilized. Then there's an abundance of smaller fun roles including Heather Graham, Luis Guzmán, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, and John Turturro. Not Oscar quality any one of them, but solid funny stuff, in that overblown yet still recognizably human way that makes comedies amusing as long as you keep your brows low. Even Rudy Giuliani gets in on the act with a cameo that is ridiculously over-the-top, but made me smile anyway.

If Anger Management has a real weakness, however, it would be what looks like an insurance policy so that the film appeals to a certain market--gratuitous and crude boy humor.

Okay, I'll level with you! I'm kind of embarrassed that I enjoyed Anger Management as much as I did. I recognize that it's over the top and pitched at a pretty low level, and there's too much crude foolishness, but I found myself enjoying the film. At heart Anger Management is a lightweight comedy that requires you to check your mind at the door and just chuckle at the improbable characters in unlikely situations.


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