MOVIE - MR. DEEDS - Review Rating $$$$ (OUT OF 10)
STARRING ADAM SANDLER, WINONA RYDER, JOHN TURTURRO& CONCHATA FARRELL.
This movie is based very loosely on the 1936 film "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" starring Gary Cooper.
I must confess that I have never seen Sandler's other movies (The Wedding Singer, Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy or The Waterboy) and now I know why.
Your intrepid reporter attended a matinee performance to gauge how the intended audience, early teens, reacted to it. While they laughed, and there was an unbelievable smattering of applause at the conclusion (were they glad it was over too?), no one was rolling in the aisles.
The biggest problem with the movie is once you've seen the previews, you've seen the movie, or at least it's best parts. The story between the jokes was lackluster at best. In fact, even some of the jokes fell flat. A classic example is the scene involving an impromptu rendition of Major Tom. In other movies (Adventures in Baby-sitting comes instantly to mind) the same type of scene worked much better.
On a positive note, Winona Ryder proves she is a talented actress, giving perhaps the best supporting actress performance of the early summer blockbuster season. This is all the more remarkable considering the material she has to work with. Now, if she can just convince the judge she was going to pay for all that merchandise.
From a parental perspective, the language is basically tame (by today's standards) and the movie attempts to convey a positive message despite its juvenile humour.
I have said before that I don't believe a movie has to be long to be great and that a great movie never seems long. Mr. Deeds, provides further support for this proposition by being a relatively short movie that seems long and is definitely not great.
Mr. Deeds is a short comedy that's comes up short on entertainment value as well.
ALTERNATIVE REVIEWS:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-deeds28f.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/MrDeeds-1112998/
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/mrdeeds/
MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002 LIST
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2003
David Schwartz.
Last update:
8/9/03; 11:05:47 PM.
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