Mr. Deeds

Starring: Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, Peter Gallagher, John Turturro, Jared Harris, Steve Buscemi, Allen Covert, Erick Avari, Peter Dante, J.B. Smoove, Rob Schneider (cameo)
Directed by: Steven Brill
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Romance
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A small town pizza shop owner (Adam Sandler) travels to the Big Apple when he learns he's inherited $40 billion from his late uncle.

Review:

Tim: Mr. Deeds has always been a movie that I wish I liked more. It seems like a funny movie, and a bit more classy than some of Adam Sandler's other films. Unfortunately, it just has far too many shortcomings. I thought this film was decent, but far too flawed.

The movie actually starts off pretty strong. This is a remake of a classic film, so the basic premise is good- a regular guy inherits $40 billion. It's immediately interesting to see how the money and power could potentially change him. It's also very funny to have Sandler coming from a small New Hampshire town, complete with lots of "wicked!"s and "jeezum crow!"s. You don't see too many rural New Hampshire characters in Hollywood, so this was a very cool aspect of the film (and it lets Sandler pay tribute to his roots). Because of the remake aspect of this film, the movie plays straighter than much of Sandler's fare. While there is certainly a lot of his humor here, this feels different than the typical "original" movies he makes.

Sandler is fairly enjoyable in the role. While he doesn't make Deeds one of his most memorable characters, he plays him with his trademark simplicity and heart, and that is fun to watch. He doesn't know much about New York City or the customs there, and it's always entertaining to watch a fish-out-of-water story. Sandler milks those moments quite well. I also liked the casting of Winona Ryder. I've always lamented that she has not had a bigger career. I think she's a talented actress, and she works well here. She and Sandler are fun on screen together, and she brings a good deal of charm to the role. She has a few funny moments throughout the film, and overall, she was a nice addition.

Peter Gallagher is good as the sleazy businessman. John Turturro has a few humorous moments, but like most of his roles, takes it to such an extreme that it just gets annoying. I liked Jared Harris as the magazine editor. I thought Steve Buscemi was criminally underused in a silly, pointless role.

The film does have some very funny moments- Sandler beating up the fake mugger, traveling to Ryder's "home town", the start of the fire scene with the cats (which just descends into ridiculousness soon after). However, there's a good deal of moments that just are not funny at all. I never liked the black foot scene, the aforementioned cats bouncing around was awful, and Turturro's ninja moves were weak comedy.

While much of the story is mildly entertaining, the film really falls apart at the end. The conclusion to the film is so weak and so stupid, it's hard to believe. Not only does it ignore all forms of reality, it's just such a lazy, cheesy, Hollywood ending. It appears as if no effort at all was put into making the ending work. If the film didn't have enough flaws, the ending alone would have ruined it for me.

Mr. Deeds has a number of things that I really liked, but it also has a large number of flaws, which just frustrate me to no end. I would say that this is a decent movie, but one that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I didn't care for it all that much.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Big Daddy, The Waterboy, Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Grown Ups