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Mr. Deeds (Special Widescreen Edition)

Mr. Deeds (Special Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sandler's Deeds
Review: Adam Sandler films, I never know what to expect. Some I really like, some I really hate. Mr Deeds, something of a remake of the 1936 Frank Capra film, was entertaining enough while I was watching, but it's nothing great.

Adam Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds. He's a kind small town guy, he owns a pizza store and hopes to one day be in the greeting card business (though he hasn't quite got the hang of greeting card poetry yet). Then one day, right out of the blue, he is visited by a couple of businessmen. It seems that his great uncle, Preston Blake, has died trying to climb Mount Everest and by relation has passed his forty billion dollar media empire to Deeds. Deeds heads to New York with Blake's staff to sign the papers, and when he gets there he lives the high life, falls in love and gets hounded by the paparazzi.

It started off all right, I thought, like a parody rather than a remake, all silly and light hearted, and Adam Sandler is likeable enough as the kind Deeds. But it kind of goes downhill from there, if anywhere. It's not a parody, I discovered. I don't know what it is. I kind of wonder who this was aimed at. It's not a faithful remake of "Mr Deeds Goes to Town" (it's too silly for that), but it's too much of a remake to be a proper Adam Sandler film. It's something of an oddity. Some of the jokes, though I knew they were jokes, I just didn't find funny (like the frostbitten foot). The romantic plot (which takes up most of the second half of the film) really didn't grab me at all, and just dragged things out. Adam Sandler and Winona Rider (who plays his love interest, a paparazzi) don't have any chemistry, and the plot that brought them together isn't very likely or likeable.

The special features on DVD are not too shabby. There are a couple of gags in the deleted scenes which I reckon are funnier than some of the stuff that made it in the movie, actually.

You could probably do worse than rent "Mr Deeds", but you could probably do a lot better.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: It just didn't hit the mark
Review: Mr. Deeds is a film starring goofy but likeable comedian Adam Sandler. It is also a remake of a 1936 Frank Capra film called Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (starring Gary Cooper as Mr. Deeds). I also found out it was made as a TV series in 1969.

Preston Blake (Harve Presnell), a charismatic Ted Turner/Rupert Murdoch type of media mogul, dies in a mountain climbing expedition in his eighties and leaves behind a media empire, 40 billion dollars and no will. The CEO of his company (Blake Media), Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher), institutes a search to find the nearest living relative which turns out to be a small town pizzeria owner (and amateur would-be author of greeting card lines) called Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler).

Chuck and his lawyer Cecil Anderson (Erick Avari) travels to the small town of Mandrake Falls, New Hampshire in a fancy helicopter to locate Deeds. Deeds is excited by the good news and agrees to accompany the men back to New York City to claim his fortune. The whole town turns up to wave him goodbye.

Over in New York, Deeds' affable and good-hearted nature charms everyone except snobbish members of society and cynical news reporter and host of the "Inside Access" TV show, Mac McGrath (Jared Harris), who is determined to ridicule the new multi-billionaire. He gets show producer "Babe" Bennett (Winona Ryder) and her assistant Marty (Allen Covert) to dig out some dirt on Deeds.

"Babe" endears herself to Deeds by posing as a small town girl called Pam Dawson from "Winchestertonfieldville" working as a school nurse. Soon they start falling in love. But will Deeds find out that "Pam" is not what she seems. Also, why is Chuck so eager to get Deeds to sell his shares in Blake Media to him?

No doubt this is intended to be one of those "feel good" comedies where you can't help but be enthralled by the corny lines and situations, but it didn't hit the mark with me. Deeds is supposed to be innocent and naive and with a heart of gold, but Adam Sandler didn't come across as that "innocent and naive" and I couldn't help feeling that he was mocking the role rather than playing it. The shareholders' meeting towards the end didn't really work for me either, as Deeds' "speech" didn't strike me as believable or capable of turning the room sentiment around.

There are some interesting characters and cameo roles, including Emilio Lopez (John Turturro) the "sneaky" butler with the foot [...], "Crazy Eyes" (Steve Buscemi) and John McEnroe playing himself.


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Weak, even for Sandler
Review: Yes it's a slow movie day when I'm reviewing Adam Sandler's "Mr. Deeds", an alleged remake of the 1936 classic film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" by Frank Capra. I have not seen the original, but by all accounts it was the superior of the two. One thing I know for sure, Sandler is no Gary Cooper. But I haven't posted in a while so here it goes.

Sandler plays a good hearted small towner whose rich uncle dies and leaves him a $40 billion empire. Oddly, Sandler, or should I say Sandler's character, seems no more surprised at this event than finding a nickel on the street. His attitude manages to carry over to the audience, as I found myself unimpressed by this vast sum. Maybe it's the tech bubble rubbing off on me - but hearing $40 billion just doesn't seem to impress the way it once might have. Not long ago inheriting a million dollars or more seemed outrageous. But with multibillionaires popping up on the news on a regular basis, I suppose it just takes a little more than a big round number to impress me.

Anyway, the film continues in a predictable manner and trots out the small town America virtues as superior to the big city ethic of greed and workaholism. Deeds gives away stacks of cash to total strangers. Meanwhile evildoers plot to take Deeds' empire from him and ruin his uncle's company. And of course the hardened, opportunistic tabloid reporter Babe Bennet unwittingly falls for Deeds over the course of 90 minutes until her undercover charade is revealed. All seems lost for romance until the two reconcile in a heroic ice pond rescue, and all is forgiven.

I'm sure any diehard Sandlerite will enjoy this film. I will admit that there is a certain appeal to one aspect of his act. There's just something hilarious about Sandler fighting with anyone, especially if he's just bludgeoning them over and over. Whether it's an imaginary penguin or Bob Barker it makes me chuckle every time. Otherwise there was little I found funny in this movie. In fact I can barely remember how it ended, not that it mattered, I'm sure it all worked out ok.

One bright spot I did find was Emilio Lopez played by John Turturro. He played Deeds' capable butler and provided the only interesting and slightly unique character in the film. His mannerism and ability to move silently and almost instantly about any room provided some relief from an otherwise uneventful movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Move on.
Review: Originally a movie made in 1936 about a Tuba Player from Vermont who went to the big city. It later became a television show in 1969 till 1970... and then in 2002 it was turned into a travesty by the worlds worst comedian Adam Sandler. Honestly, I used to like Adam Sandler... but after like 5 of his movies, that are all basically the same thing "Adam doesn't have money." "Adam needs money." "Adam gets money." "Adam is a good guy." "Hooray for Adam." - I wasn't sold on "Mr. Deeds." I felt bad for John Turturro. This movie was CLEARLY below him. Supporting actor to Adam Sandler?!? John Turturro was by far the funniest part of the movie. Adam Sandler was still doing the same tired, played out comedy. Move on.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Boring!
Review: Come on now. There are a few parts in this movie that did make me laugh, but Adam Sandler himself did not have one funny line through this whole movie. Pretty much, a small town guy named Longfellow Deeds inherits 40 billion dollars from his dead uncle who owned a radio empire. An undercover reporter tries to get information from him and gets it, then Deeds finds out shes a reporter. In the end she feels guilty and they end up together. Its just so boring and stupid.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I cant get into this one
Review: I usualy like Adam Sandlers movies, but with this one i just couldnt get into it. It just came off to me as a re-written, (in a diffrent way) version of Sandlers earlier movies. I didnt think this movie was very funny at all, and it was the same thing I have seen Adam play for years, a guy who has a heart of gold, yet this voilent side to him aswell, who finds a girl, struggles to get, then keep the girl, and then do somthing nice and get the girl in the end....sorry, i know alot of people here are saying this is a good movie.... but i feel i've seen it before! and was a bit too predictable IMO... apart from GOING OVERBOARD, this is about the only Adam Sandler flick i couldnt grasp.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Harmless, predicatable fun
Review: You know the premise if you have been near a movie theater or television set or video rental store in the past two months. I begin to worry when the slew of advertisements becomes a tidal wave of "everybody's going to see it so why don't you." But I was surprised - it was not a total flop and was even funny at times.

What is so wretching is its utter predictability. Joe Schmo inherits 40 billion dollars. Naturally he is a country bumpkin, though (thankfully) not the usual stupid Southern hick but a good old boy from up North. And of course he moves to the ultra-big mansion replete with English-style furniture, butler and an evil guy who wants him out. Enter cute gal journalist (apparently one of the two jobs that exist in the world of cinema) who wants a big story about the local yokel but - you guessed it - falls in love. Through a series of totally unrealistic but totally unsurprising events the good guys win in the end. We've all seen it, heard it, read about it before and yet it still attracts us.


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