TAKE 3 DEEP BREATHS: SANDLER'S LATEST NOT ALL BAD.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THE BEST JOKE in ``Anger Management'' is that it isn't angry enough. Sure, Adam Sandler as put-upon schlub Dave Buznik and Jack Nicholson as the overbearing, head-mangling temper-control guru Dr. Buddy Rydell have their shouting matches and outbursts of physical aggression. But considering that this is the first matchup between two stars who have built lucrative careers out of cinematic rage, this is a surprisingly spite-lite affair.

Which makes the movie sound like a typical Adam Sandler disappointment. Remarkably, though, it's not. Rather than the sense of missed opportunity that's hung over the comedian's lazy efforts ``Mr. Deeds,'' ``The Waterboy,'' ``Big Daddy'' and ``Little Nicky,'' there's a vaguely subversive, almost clever feel to this movie's refusal to go exactly where you expect it to. Frustrating our explosion expectations adds some nice, if low-level, comic tension to a typically sloppy Sandler scenario. And whenever one of this clown's movies draws laughs from unexpected places, that's a blessed miracle.

Of course, ``Anger's'' principal engine of mirth is no surprise. Praise all you want his sourpuss pseudo-subtlety in the recent ``About Schmidt,'' but there's nothing like Jack really working it. All the charm, the wit, the insinuating manipulation and barmy face-pulling we deem a fun Nicholson performance is here in abundance, along with a beguiling willingness to make just enough of a fool of himself to fit into, if not become a citizen of, Sandler's idiot screen universe. And the worldly Jack actually brings some sophisticated comedy - literary references! character complexity! - into the vacuum.

Having to cope with a real actor also brings Sandler's game up a little higher. While hardly registering ``Punch-Drunk Love'' depth, the younger person - I'm still not ready to call him an actor - does achieve a degree of emotional consistency and complementary comic timing usually missing from his commercial vehicles. This ain't much, but in Sandler's case, it looks like remedial progress.

It probably also helps that this vehicle is not driven by one of the comic's school buddies but by Peter Segal, whose directing credits include ``Nutty Professor II,'' ``Naked Gun 33 1/3'' and ``My Fellow Americans.'' Not the most sterling examples of the form, those, but better qualification for making film comedy than having laughed at all of Sandler's jokes back in college.

The plot, or more accurately, the setup: Unappreciated corporate cog Buznik has a nonaltercation with a flight attendant and, as a result, is convicted of something like air terrorism (kudos to screenwriter David Dorfman for getting the first good Patriot Act satire into a big studio movie). He's remanded to the control of the smug, possibly insane Rydell, who goes about systematically ruining Buznik's life while denying him any chances to fight back.

Marisa Tomei plays the girl, Heather Graham the other woman, and John Turturro and Luis Guzman stand out among the members of Rydell's therapy group. Cameos run riot, from Woody Harrelson as a Teutonic transvestite to John C. Reilly as a childhood bully turned Buddhist monk (with issues) and Rudy Giuliani as a giver of romantic advice. Sandler's ever-present cat appears as the victim of Buznik's job testing; he's designing a line of clothing for overweight tabbies.

The central show, however, is all Nicholson and Sandler. They're not the most felicitous comedy team ever devised, but they make the mismatchup work, and that's all the film needed to accomplish.

And as an extra added bonus, we get the sublime, loony pleasure of hearing Jack masticate the line ``The magic of Leonard Bernstein and Steven Sondheim's 'West Side Story,' '' followed by a coerced duet of ``I Feel Pretty.'' Adam snorts the verses in his goat-boy voice, Jack does the la-la chorus with his eyebrows. If you ask me, ``Chicago'' schmicago, this is the real return of the movie musical.

ANGER MANAGEMENT - Three stars

(PG-13: violence, language)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, Luis Guzman.

Director: Peter Segal.

Running time: 1 hr. 41 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Not as dumb as most Sandler comedies. Hit or miss, but there are some very funny sequences.

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Adam Sandler, left, plays a sad sack relegated to the care of a daffy therapist (Jack Nicholson) in ``Anger Management.''