Mr. Deeds Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)June 25th, 2002
MR. DEEDS (2002) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, Peter Gallegher, Jared Harris, Allen Covert, Erick Avara, John Turturro, Peter Dante, Conchata Ferrell, Harve Presnell, Steve Buscemi and JB Smoove. Screenplay by Tim Herlihy. Directed by Steven Brill. Adapted from "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," Directed by Frank Capra, screenplay by Robert Riskin, based on a story by Clarence Budington Kelland. Rated PG-13. Running time: 91 minutes.
Mr. Deeds is an Adam Sandler movie I can recommend with confidence. You won’t be offended, bored or feel like an idiot for wasting your money.
Yes, you read it correctly. Praise for Adam Sandler. OK, perhaps some of the credit should go to Frank Capra, Robert Riskin and Clarence Budington Kelland. And if at least one of those names is not familiar to you than you should never darken a movie theater again.
Kelland was the author of Opera Hat, the story that screenwriter Riskin transformed into the quaint comedy. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur that won director Capra his second Academy Award.
Sandler’s vehicle is very faithful in spirit to the original despite several alterations. For example, instead of inheriting $20 million from an uncle who was a playboy financier, Sandler’s Deeds inherits $40 billion from an uncle who ran an international conglomerate that owned television stations as well as the New York Jets.
Deeds’ hometown remains Mandrake Falls, but it is relocated for some reason from Vermont to New Hampshire. Other changes are superficial: Instead of being a hard-bitten newspaperwoman, Belle Bennett (Winona Ryder) is a cynical reporter for a sleazy tabloid TV show, a la Hard Copy, and she masquerades as school nurse Pam Dawson instead of stenographer Mary Dawson.
Attitude and tone, though, are where the films differ substantially. When Capra made his version in 1936, the nation was in the midst of the Depression and Capra, with his populist bent, had Deeds use his money to buy small farms for those unfortunates left jobless and homeless by the economic catastrophe. It was a democratic sentiment in which the haves did the right thing by looking out for the have-nots.
And the villain was the head of a big law firm trying to wrest the money from Deeds so they could “manage” it (as well as cover some losses in their books).
In 2002, though, Deeds fights to keep the evil lawyer Cedar (Peter Gallagher) from gaining power of attorney to break up the conglomerate and cost 50,000 people their jobs while he pockets a substantial amount from the various stock deals.
Times, it seems, were simpler in 1936.
Sandler may seem an odd choice to play Deeds. He appears more schlub (a word he uses to describe himself in one of the greeting card poems he continually writes) than everyman, yet he is able to capture the simplicity by which Deeds lives his life that Cooper brought to the role.
He also has the advantage, like Cooper, of being smarter than he appears. In a scene lifted directly from the original, Deeds and “Pam” dine at a restaurant at which they are invited to join a party of the cultural elite. In both films, the big-city snobs begin to mock Deeds, thinking he is a simple hayseed in over his head. And in both versions, Deeds sees through their game and exacts — with Pam’s permission — pounding retribution.
The Sandler of Mr. Deeds is the sweet guy from The Wedding Singer and Big Daddy, and it is this Sandler who is a more appealing — and better — actor.
Ryder lacks the fiery cynicism Jean Arthur brought to the original and seems a bit lost in the proceedings.
John Turturro nearly steals the film as Emilio Lopez, Deeds’ faithful servant, whose loyalty pays big dividends. Others in the cast include Conchata Ferrell, Erick Avari and Jared Harris, as well as Sandler regulars Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider.
Mr. Deeds may surprise you. It’s more than laughs — Sandler and writer Tim Herlihy couldn’t resist adding some gross humor — it’s filled with charm.
And just for fun, do what I did. A day or two after seeing Mr. Deeds, get hold of the Frank Capra original and pop it in the old VCR. You’ll enjoy it and gain a further appreciation for Sandler’s effort.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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