"Anger Management" may be the type of movie that audiences love, but it's also the type that makes movie critics angry. That's because there's so much potential going to waste.

Which is not to say that this comedy is completely laugh-free. However, the filmmakers spend considerable time on cheap, easy laughs when more subtle, smarter laughs are waiting to happen — laughs that require just a little more effort.

To give you an example of the numerous concepts that are poorly executed, consider this: There are a series of cameos, credited and uncredited, by the likes of Bobby Knight, John McEnroe, Rudy Giuliani, Heather Graham and Woody Harrelson. And none of them cajoles so much as a snicker.

Adam Sandler stars as Dave Buznik, a mild-mannered New York "executive assistant" who's ordered into anger-management therapy after an incident on a jet airliner is blown out of proportion. So Dave winds up with a new "bunkmate," eccentric psychologist Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), who may have witnessed the plane incident but who refuses to let Dave out of treatment early. Worse, he moves into Dave's apartment and basically takes over his life.

The increasingly tense Dave suspects that Buddy may be the one who's really crazy. But he can't tell anyone — especially not his girlfriend, Linda (Marisa Tomei), as he's unable to demonstrate his feelings for her. And Buddy's definitely no help.

Director Peter Seagal has shown talent for comedy previously (1995's "Tommy Boy"), but here, his timing is a bit off and the film is paced pretty badly. Also, several transitional scenes appear to be missing. Worse, he allows Sandler to revert to his one-note performance territory. His picked-on Buznik is nothing new, although he does manage some chemistry with Tomei.

It should be noted that two of this year's Oscar nominees are in this film's cast. In addition to Nicholson, the movie also features John C. Reilly ("Chicago"), whose talents are wasted for the sake of a cheap and gratuitous gag about involving a Buddhist monk.

"Anger Management" is rated PG-13 for crude sight gags and references to sexual and other bodily functions, occasional use of strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word), violence (beatings and brawling, supposedly for laughs) and brief partial male nudity. Running time: 101 minutes.

---

E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com