"Bedtime Stories" not a bad family flick

Filled with raining gumballs, a treadmill friendly guinea pig, and of course a booger monster, Happy Madison's Bedtime Stories is a ride through a world of imagination.

As one of Adam Sandler's better productions, this film truly inspires children to dip into a world of pretend.

Skeeter, played by Sandler, works as a handyman around what was once, his father's hotel. His father, was forced to sell it when Skeeter was just a boy, but left the new buyer, Barry Nottingham, played by Richard Griffiths, with one request.

Someday, Skeeter be allowed to run the hotel. With Nottingham's word, the hotel was his.

The years pass by and Skeeter finds himself being passed over time and time again for management positions. Finally, while watching his estranged niece and nephew, Skeeter realizes that there still is a little magic left in the world.

The bedtime stories he shares with the children become reality. It appears his luck has changed.

This movie is a great family flick. Some may be disappointed that there could be just a bit more emphasis on the stories themselves, and more magical events. The first colorful and magical event is when it starts raining gumballs. This is the perfect idea of a bedtime story through the eyes of a child.

However, the "magical" events following, seem small in comparison, and lack that glint of childhood sparkle. They belong to the world of adult magic and mystique. For example, they are more career and romance oriented, than a shower of raining gumballs.

More kid magic would have been a great asset to this film. I wanted to see more color and magical creatures. Director, Adam Shankman, could have benefited from getting his hands dirty and incorporating more of the goofy, crazy, messy, gritty, and comical stuff that resides in the imagination of kids everywhere.

All in all, "Bedtime Stories" is classic proof that happy endings still exist, no princess needed, in everyday life. It would be a great rental for family movie night once it hits the shelve of your neighborhood movie store.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

To see the trailer click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSlZmA3dAS8