I love word play and this is one of the best jokes of it's kind...
What do you call a Midget Clairvoyant on the run from the Police? A Small Medium at Large...
... and here's one that usually gets people thinking and then you have to explain the joke...
There were two nuns sharing a bath to save water. The first nun asks, "Where's the soap?" "Yes it does!" the other nun replies.
... if you have a dirty mind you'll get this quite quickly.
Columbia Pictures / Happy Madison Productions / 1492 Pictures : Columbia Pictures / Sony Home Entertainment
8.25 / 10
So here's my guilty little secret - I like Adam Sandler films...
Even though he's done some real dross in his career he's brought out a movie or three that has made me laugh out loud, from Airheads back in 1994 and including The Wedding Singer, Little Nicky, Mr Deeds, Eight Crazy Nights, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard, Bedtime Stories, Funny People, and now Pixels.
I love the fact that it makes a parody of the Voyager space probes, which contained golden records containing information about Earth, should an alien race find them... and be able to play them!
Now, I was a kid in the 70's and 80's so I remember Arcades and the hours and money spent on Invaders, Asteroids, and Pacman. I could never get the handle of Defender, though. So this movie spoke to me right from the opening shot. So our future hero's are the nerds of their time taking part in a great Arcade Shoot-Out, where it comes down to two players, Eddie, portrayed brilliantly by Peter Dinklage, who gives a nice air of sleaziness to the character and his "Hard Guy" voice is great, and Brenner, played by Sandler (who does another great portrayal of Adam Sandler :-) ).
Brenner loses and this loss paves the way for his future fate as he never quite gets to become the person he dreamed of in his youth. However, his best friend Will Cooper fares better and is elected as the President of the United States. So when the strange attacks on the Good Ol' US of A cause concern and the heads of security cannot figure out what is happening President Cooper spots something familiar on a video clip and calls in his friend Brenner for help.
This is a totally outlandish plot, which the actors, writers, and director do a fantastic job of playing straight and make the comedy about the situations and narrative. The scene where the creator of Pacman meets his "Sweet Little Boy" is well thought out and is a perfect example of this.
And the scene where Brian Cox's and Sean Bean's characters become "Extra Close" made me laugh out loud... very loud... loved it. The director, Chris Columbus, uses all of the actors and each of them gives a good performance to build character and comedic situations. Not one of them feels like they would rather be elsewhere; this makes for a better film. He also keeps the pace going as the action ramps up to the finale.
To be honest, I cannot find a single fault with this film. Yes, Adam Sandler's acting dexterity isn't of the highest calibre, but in this film, he tones down the outrageousness of some of his previous movies and it works well within the story and movie, so it's not a drawback here.
And since I can relate to the film, as well as it making me laugh a lot and giving me a nice warm and happy feeling, this has now elevated it to the upper ranks of my favourite comedy films.
I would recommend this to all, just sit back and let the happy come...
