VIDEO `ANGER MANAGEMENT': STANDARD SANDLER WITH A SHOT OF JACK.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

``What? I don't need anger management! I thought this was Sexaholics Anonymous!''

That line is spoken in the film ``Anger Management'' by famed college basketball coach Bobby Knight, who has been know to throw a chair or two when he disagrees with a call. It's kind of funny, but it's a cheap laugh, which sums up the only appeal - if you can call it appeal - of the Jack Nicholson-Adam Sandler flick.

Playing against his usual explosive over-the-top character, Sandler is Dave Buznik, a mild-mannered ad exec who can't get the courage to confront his boss, who has taken credit for Dave's work, or ask his faithful girlfriend Linda (Marisa Tomei) to marry him. A misunderstanding on an airplane lands him in court for assaulting a flight attendant and then under the care of the flamboyant Dr. Buddy Rydell (Nicholson) for anger management group therapy sessions. That is where Dave encounters Knight, who promptly leaves, and then Dave meets the real crazies in the group, including a Grenada war vet (John Turturro) and a pair of violent female porn stars.

More misunderstandings ensue, and soon Buddy moves into Dave's apartment as director Peter Segal and writer David Dorfman try to drive the film toward some inspired lunacy. As far as the acting goes, Sandler and Nicholson do their best. The scene in which Buddy insists Dave stop their car in the middle of traffic and orders him to sing ``I Feel Pretty,'' on which he joins in, as part of his therapy, has the surreal, absurd effect the films needs. But as soon as ``Anger Management'' seems to be switching into a higher gear, it stalls out in the same manner most Sandler films do, with inane humor, sentimentality and cameos by nonfilm celebs. In this case, there's - among others- John McEnroe, another sports figure known for his temper, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who helps save the day for Dave and gives him advice on kissing.

``Anger Management'' goes have a couple of fun cameos - by Woody Harrelson as a transvestite hooker/Yankee Stadium security guard and Heather Graham as a neurotic beauty who believes she's too fat, but it doesn't save this undercooked film. It's not that there aren't laughs, you just have to endure the flat times in between. Nicholson is at times marvelous, but even he seems to eventually give into the one-dimensional nature of the script, walking through some of those Jack moments we've come to expect.

Anger Management (Columbia; $27.94) includes commentary by Sandler and Segal, four deleted scenes, a blooper reel and a ``My Buddy, Jack'' featurette.

Lacking 'Confidence'

Another acting great, Dustin Hoffman, shows up in a relatively flat exercise, ``Confidence,'' directed by James Foley (``Glengarry Glen Ross''). Hoffman plays a gangster known as the King who has been ripped off by a gang of con men led by Jake Vig (Edward Burns), and in exchange for not killing him, King arranges for Jake to rip off a rival (Robert Forster). He enlists a pickpocket named Lily (Rachel Weisz), one of King's thugs (Franky G) along with crew member Gordo (Paul Giamatti). There are also a couple of L.A. cops (Luis Guzman and Donal Logue) and a shady federal agent (Andy Garcia).

There have been a lot of con films, from ``The Sting'' to ``The Usual Suspects'' and ``The Spanish Prisoner,'' and ``Confidence'' - while trying to look slick - doesn't give you much to care about in terms of the characters, so it doesn't really matter who's conning who.

Hoffman is hit and miss - too good an actor to ignore, but here he's often too mannered, as if trying to overcompensate for a shallow character. The rest of the cast tries - well maybe not Burns, who always seems like he's strolling through a role - but the whole enterprise seems itself a con.

``Confidence'' (Lions Gate; $26.99) includes cast commentary and Sundance Channel's ``Anatomy of a Scene.''

Keep in mind

There are many who consider ``Soap,'' which ran from 1977-81, one of the best sitcoms ever. ``Soap,'' a parody of you know what, revolved around the two families - the rich Tates and the blue-collar Campbells. The show is notable for a number of reasons, boasting a top-flight cast of Billy Crystal, Richard Mulligan, Katherine Helmond, Robert Guillaume, Ted Wass, Jennifer Salt and Cathryn Damon. As ``The Complete Directory to Primetime Shows'' notes, ABC received 32,000 letters about the series before it even aired, all but nine against it. That's because the show highlighted sex (hey, it was the '70s) with plenty of extramarital affairs and one of TV first gay characters, Jodie (Crystal).

``Soap - The Complete First Season'' (Columbia; $29.95).

The late director John Schlesinger's work was erratic at times, but he made a number of great films, including, of course, ``Midnight Cowboy.'' His 1971 film ``Sunday, Bloody Sunday'' is a small gem. Written by film critic Penelope Gilliatt, ``Sunday'' involves a love triangle between a homosexual doctor in his 40s (Peter Finch), a heterosexual employment counselor (Glenda Jackson) and a bisexual artist (Murray Head) who splits his affection between them. The film on the surface may seem almost too civilized (they are all Londoners), but the intelligent, nuanced examination of human emotions and the nature of love make it worth the effort.

``Sunday, Bloody Sunday'' (MGM; 19.90).

Novelist Neil Gaiman's ``Neverwhere,'' a 1996 British fantasy miniseries, is long on imagination and solid acting but short on the special effects that would have made this a truly great TV event. Set in the netherworld of ``London Below,'' where office worker Richard Mayhew (Gary Bakewell) finds himself after rescuing Door (Laura Fraser), one of the elite among the complex world of kingdoms and baronies that exist under the city. You may wish that ``Neverwhere'' could have benefited from a bigger budget and the special effects that could have been done today, but it still manages to be mysterious fun.

``Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere'' (A&E; $39.95, two discs). Includes commentary by creator Gaiman and an original BBC interview with him.

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Dustin Hoffman plays a gangster known as the King who has been ripped off by a gang of con men in ``Confidence.''