Bedtime Stories (2008)

A hotel handyman's life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true.

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writers:

Matt Lopez (screenplay), Tim Herlihy (screenplay)

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Courteney Cox

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	Skeeter Bronson
Keri Russell	...	Jill
Guy Pearce	...	Kendall
Russell Brand	...	Mickey
Richard Griffiths	...	Barry Nottingham
Teresa Palmer	...	Violet Nottingham
Lucy Lawless	...	Aspen
Courteney Cox	...	Wendy
Jonathan Morgan Heit	...	Patrick
Laura Ann Kesling	...	Bobbi
Jonathan Pryce	...	Marty Bronson
Nick Swardson	...	Engineer
Kathryn Joosten	...	Mrs. Dixon
Allen Covert	...	Ferrari Guy
Carmen Electra	...	Hot Girl

Storyline

In 1974, Marty Bronson builds the Sunny Vista Motel in Los Angeles, California, with the intention of raising his son Skeeter and his daughter Wendy in the place where he works. However he is not a good businessman and the hotel goes bankrupt. Marty is forced to sell his motel to Barry Nottingham who promises to hire Skeeter in a general manager position when he has grown up. Years later, Barry builds a new hotel; forgets his promise to Marty; and Skeeter Bronson is only the handyman of his hotel. The general manager is the arrogant Kendall, who is engaged with the shallow Barry's daughter Violet Nottingham. When the Webster Elementary School where Wendy is the principal will be closed to be demolished, she needs to travel to Arizona for a job interview. Wendy asks her friend Jill, who is teacher in the same school, to watch her son Patrick and her daughter Bobbi during the day and Skeeter to watch them during the night. Skeeter meets the estranged kids with his best friend Mickey and...

---

Plot Keywords:

surrealism | narrated by character | 2000s | 21st century | year 1974 | 

---

Taglines:

Coming True Christmas Day

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cuentos que no son cuentos

Filming Locations:

Santa Paula, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,450,296, 28 December 2008, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$110,101,975

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$212,874,442

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Happy Madison Productions, Gunn Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Just before Skeeter is offered the Ferrari horse there is a poster on the tree advertising "Hybrid Mules" for sale. As well as being a reference to Jill's choice of car, a mule is a horse/donkey hybrid.

---

Goofs

On the first night that Skeeter keeps the kids, when he is saying "goodnight" and turns out the lights, we see Bobby roll over onto her stomach. However, in the next shot we see her on her back (shrugging her shoulders).

---

Quotes

Marty Bronson: Your fun is only limited by your imagination.

---

Crazy Credits

The Walt Disney logo turns into a pop-up page from a storybook.

---

Connections

References The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

---

Soundtracks

Here Is To The Night
Written by Athoas Brown
Performed by The Jazz Masters
Courtesy of Spirit Music Group

User Reviews

Stories May Have Happy Endings

In 1974, Marty Bronson (Jonathan Pryce) builds the Sunny Vista Motel in Los Angeles, California, with the intention of raising his son Skeeter and his daughter Wendy in the place where he works. However he is not a good businessman and the hotel goes bankruptcy. Marty is forced to sell his motel to Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths) that promises to hire Skeeter in a general manager position when he grown up. Years later, Barry builds a new hotel; forgets his promise to Marty; and Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) is only the handyman of his hotel. The general manager is the arrogant Kendall (Guy Pearce), who is engaged with the shallow Barry's daughter Violet Nottingham (Teresa Palmer).

When the Webster Elementary School where Wendy (Courteney Cox) is the principal will be closed to be demolished, she needs to travel to Arizona for a job interview. Wendy asks her friend Jill (Keri Russell), who is teacher in the same school, to watch her son Patrick and her daughter Bobbi during the day and Skeeter to watch them during the night. Skeeter meets the estranged kids with his best friend Mickey (Russell Brand) and makes up bedtime stories to help them to sleep but the kids add details to the stories, changing their endings. Soon Skeeter realizes that the plot of the stories are coming true and affecting his life. Meanwhile Barry Nottingham decides to give a change to Skeeter to dispute the manager position in his new hotel with Kendall like in one of his stories. But Skeeter has told to his nephew and his niece that stories do not have happy endings.

"Bedtime Stories" is a family entertainment from the Disney Studios surprisingly good. Adam Sandler is very funny in this fantasy and it is impressive how this actor that is not handsome and actually has a sort of stupid face shines with his charisma. I have seen most of his movies and enjoyed most of them.

Based on the Metascore (33/100), I dare to say that fortunately I am not a professional critic. "Bedtime Stories" is not a movie to win awards in any film festival but is a delightful fantasy to be appreciated by those that have the concept of family and dreams. It might be very sad to have the absence of these feelings in the heart and give such low rating to this beautiful fantasy. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Um Faz de Conta que Acontece" ("A Make Beliefe that Happens")