Mr. Deeds (2002)

What makes it different from others?

The greatest movie ever made..!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Mr. Deeds is very similar to many other Adam Sandler films. The film follows a basic and predictable formula. Many of the comedian's reliable standards are in effect: abuse of old folks, crude humor, a Rob Schneider appearance, and mentally deficient sidekicks. Some of the stuff works, but there's not much room for originality. This movie even perpetuates Sandler's trend of playing guys who are unexpectedly good at dishing out beatings. Many have considered Mr. Deeds to be one of Adam Sandler's more underrated films, and in several ways it is. However the film is typical but entertaining in some areas. It is a decent comedy, and the humor is what one would expect from a Sandler film.

Media mogul Preston Blake froze on top of a mountain leaving behind 49% stake in his media company worth $40 Billion with no immediate heir. Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler) is a small town pizzeria owner with a penchant for writing unusual greeting cards. His mother's uncle is Preston Blake and he gets the whole inheritance. Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder) is a tabloid reporter posing as a mugging victim from a small town to get in with Deeds and do an exclusive on the new tycoon. Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher) and Cecil Anderson (Erick Avari) are a couple of company men who are organizing a buy out of Deeds' shares and maybe take advantage of him. Emilio Lopez (John Turturro) is the sneaky strange man servant.I really didn't laugh once. Adam Sandler is both naive and annoyingly smart. My overwhelming feeling is that I found Sandler strangely unlikeable. He always has that goofy sarcastic grin. He seems to be playing a pretty smart guy but he's also completely clueless. If I don't like the character, chances are I'm not going to find him funny. And I don't find Adam Sandler funny in this one.

There aren't too many people like Longfellow Deeds in this world. Deeds is a likable, 'good- guy' from the small town of Mandrake Falls who doesn't let money get in the way of what's really important to him. Its tough not to embrace the charismatic Deeds when life throws him a curveball and his world is turned upside down. Thought it's loosely based off of the 1936 film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", Steven Brill's film "Mr. Deeds" still comes off as an original comedy with a slight twist. Now don't go to watch this movie expecting an action-packed drama with lots of special effects. Instead, the combination of likable characters, a quirky love-story, and the overall positive moral of the film makes "Mr. Deeds" a favorite at any movie store. Longfellow Deeds may be perhaps the friendliest and most humble character that Adam Sandler has ever played, and the best thing about this role is that it seemed so natural for him. What really makes this film special is the cast of supporting characters such as John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, and Winona Ryder. Turturro plays the humorous and sneaky Emilio, a servant of Deeds while Buscemi plays Crazy-Eyes, a friendly but unusual citizen from Mandrake Falls. Both of these characters liven up the movie and add just a little silliness to the mix. Ryder stars as Babe Bennett, a sexy journalist who tricks Deeds into falling in love with her in order to gather any information she can about him to save her job. The relationship between Babe and Deeds really becomes the focal point of the film, and takes its viewers for quite a ride.The minute that Deeds saves Babe from her staged "mugging", it is obvious that these two will end up falling in love. This brings up one major flaw in the plot: it is way too predictable. This isn't necessarily a negative thing, but some viewers might not enjoy the fact that they can guess what will happen next. When Babe initially goes out with Deeds, she is simply doing it for her job and does her best to fake affection toward him in order to find out more information. As time draws on, Deeds' heartwarming personality grows on her more and more until she realizes she is in love and can't live with the fact that she is lying to him. This creates an interesting chemistry between the two, and it definitely keeps the audience's interest. One of the best parts about this film is that Longfellow Deeds' personality is contagious. It grows not only on his friends in the film, but also grows on his viewers. An important lesson taught in this film is to be happy no matter what you have. Deeds is a prime example of this, as even gaining $40 billion and becoming the richest man in New York doesn't change who he is one bit. In fact, he ends up teaching a room full of greedy stockholders this same exact lesson too. This is what makes "Mr. Deeds" such a fantastic film, seeing a lovable character that stays strong and fights for what he believes in. Having any other actor in the place of Sandler would definitely knock this film down a couple notches. The image Sandler portrays as Longfellow Deeds locks in the audience and makes them begin to care about him, especially as the girl he falls in love with turns out to have been hiding something from him. The twists and turns throughout the movie definitely keep things interesting, especially when things look so hopeless for Deeds that there couldn't be any way out. Anyone who is partial to a heartwarming classic will get a few good laughs and will definitely enjoy "Mr. Deeds".

Apparently Adam Sandler dedicated this remake of the 1936 classic to his late grandmother. Now I can admire that, really I can, especially when the 1936 classic was her favourite film. But someone needs to tell Sandler that good intentions don't always make a good film. The ambition is there, but the film just isn't that great, not as pointless or as awful as the remakes to Psycho or the Wicker Man(which was unintentionally hilarious) I admit but sorry this wasn't good. There are one or two good things, such as the soundtrack, striking scenery and John Tuturro's turn as the Spanish butler. However, the script is cloying and lacking in wit, the direction is uninspired and the story is too saccharine and simplistic. Then in terms of acting, Adam Sandler gives one of his more unlikeable performances(I liked him in The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates and Spanglish though found him irritating here and in Click) and Winona Ryder while she looks lovely forgets her acting lessons. Overall, has its good points but it isn't great. 4/10 Bethany Cox