Movie Review of "Anger Management"
By CK Special Correspondent Sammy Forshner

"Anger Management," rated PG-13, is a hilarious modern comedy that is sure to entertain both Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson fans. Set mostly in New York City, it stars mild mannered Dave Buznik (Sandler), his girlfriend Linda, and the famous anger therapist, Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson). The good doctor looks and acts much more like a patient than a therapist, just adding to the hilarity of the flick.

Dave is a pushover both at work and in his relationship with Linda. He lets his boss mistreat him, and socially he lets Linda's old college buddy Andrew keep butting into the relationship. He simply has no spine.

One day on an airplane for a business trip, Dave politely asks a flight attendant for a headset. She seem to ignore him, so he asks again, and again. Despite his politeness, he never gets his headset, and the flight attendant accuses him of being out of control, and brings in an air marshal to taser him! Still at this point, I was laughing hysterically, first of all because I had no idea how he had gotten into such a mess. Secondly, I had just flown by myself from Denver to Phoenix a week or so earlier, found a broken headset in my seat pocket, and decided to not ask for a new one after seeing the previews for this movie!

Things rapidly deteriorate into total comedy overload at this point. Dave has to go to court for assaulting the flight attendant and gets assigned to anger management treatment with Dr. Rydell. Oh, and did I mention, the crazed Dr. Rydell, just happened to be sitting next to Dave on that ill-fated flight!

Dave is mandated to attend group therapy with an assortment of side-splitting misfits, including a couple of characters that helped this movie earn it's PG-13 rating. These "Fury Fighters," as they are called, only make Dave's life more ridiculous, luring him to a bar where he gets mixed up in a fight and lands once again, in court. To avoid jail, he agrees to let Dr, Rydell move in with him for "treatment." Things go from bad to worse for Dave, and from hysterically funny to roll-on-the floor- out -of -control laughing for the audience. The adventures they get into are simply unbelievable.

Just when you think the end is predictable, the movie throws you a curve ball, the only downside being that the movie ends. I could have easily watched another hour or two of this comedy. There is plenty of off-color humor in this film, so leave your elementary school siblings at home, and go to this movie with your middle-school friends or even your parents, if they have a good sense of humor. Don't keep all the fun to yourself, you wouldn't want to make them angry now, would you? (May, 2003)