When we were freshmen, we all wished we could skip through high school and get it over with. But as the years passed, we found ourselves wishing we could go back in time and relive those moments. The movie Click explores this exact feeling. In the movie, the main character played by Adam Sandler gets a remote that allows him to skip through parts of his life including work, arguments, and sicknesses. At first, the power seems like a blessing, but by the end, he ends up regretting it and wishing he could go back. This is because skipping meant missing what truly mattered. This teaches us the value of living in the moment and valuing time with family and friends.
The movie begins with the main character, Michael Newman, who is an overworked architect who ignores his family because he’s too busy chasing promotions. One day after laying down on a bed in a store, he sees a door labeled “Beyond.” Inside he’s given a remote that he can use to control his life. Michael starts by using the remote to skip arguments and situations that made him uncomfortable. However, he failed to realize that the remote learns from his past skips and it starts automatically skipping for him, causing him to unintentionally skip over important moments with his wife and kids. By the time he understood his consequences for skipping, it was too late.
As Micheal started to rely on the remote more and more, he slowly started to lose control of his own life. Michael’s life started skipping without permission, causing him to miss most of his life, and his kids were forced to grow up without an active father. Although he gained professional success, the emotional distance between him and his family grew so much that his wife left. The most powerful part of the movie occurred when Michael realizes the true cost of skipping his life. While he’s in the hospital following a stroke he suffered after hearing his daughter calling another man “dad,” he knows his time is coming and rushes out to tell his family “family comes first.” His realization that time is irreversible taught him that love mattered more than the promotions he skipped time for. The scene forces both Michael and the audience to realize that lost time is permanent and there’s no going back.
For students today, Click delivers a message that is relevant to every high school student. Many students spend their valuable time wishing school would just be over already instead of appreciating the present. Just like Michael, teens often feel stress and pressure from school, making them want to rush through school and life, hoping the difficult moments would simply just pass. Teens wishing school would “fast forward” reflects Michael’s need for the remote to escape uncomfortable situations. Learning to value the time you have now can help teens get through high school and not wish they could turn back the clock because they regret missing important things. The film developed the message by showing that skipping life doesn’t get rid of the stress, it removes the meaning of life. Michael thought that avoiding arguments and skipping to promotions would improve his life and make it easier, but instead of doing that, it caused him to miss the most important moments with his family and friends. This situation mirrors how many students wish they could skip time, focusing too much on their future not realizing they may miss friendships and memories that shape who they are. By forcing him to skip moments he previously would’ve wanted skipped, Click makes the lesson clear and emotionally powerful.
The film uses humor instead of boring lectures, the message is delivered to the audience in an enjoyable way which will draw people to rewatch it. The viewer is entertained at first by Newman’s situations with the remotes making the deeper meaning hit harder when Newman realizes the consequences of his actions. The regret and sadness he felt at the end of the film serves as a caution to the viewers that time can’t be brought back once you spend it. Students can use this message to learn to value the importance of time with loved ones instead of constantly wishing time would pass. Click reminds viewers that life isn’t about skipping your progress and hard work and popping up at the end, it’s about appreciating the hard work and beautiful moments along the way.
