Anger Management (15)

THE unusual comedy pairing of Nicholson and Sandler partially works in this patchy farce.

Sandler plays Dave Buznick, an easy-going clothes designer (he designs clothes for overweight cats!) who has difficulty expressing his emotions and suppresses them to the degree that he is unable to kiss Linda (Tomei) in public.

He doesn't think he has a problem until an air-rage incident lands him in hot water and he is sentenced by a judge to attend anger management sessions with the unorthodox therapist Dr Buddy Rydell (Nicholson).

As part of Dave's 'therapy' the eccentric doctor moves into his apartment, tries to seduce Linda and confront schoolboy bullies like John C Reilly's thug-turned-Buddhist monk (one of the movie's best scenes).

There are some good gags, but much of the film is unsophisticated (the director, Peter Segal, is responsible for Naked Gun 331/2 (*****and-a-half) and Nutty Professor II), there is a lot of dross to get through and the ending is pure Hollywood sentimentalism.

For those who thought Sandler had turned the corner with Punch-Drunk, they will find he still has some way to go while Nicholson, who needs to prove nothing, chews up the scenery with glee.

The two enjoy a certain chemistry which just about keeps it afloat, but this is average fodder that doesn't stretch the imagination.

Mono rating: 6 out of 10

Now showing at the UGC Cinemas in Newport and Cardiff