Mr. Deeds (Widescreen Special Edition)

Mr. Deeds (Widescreen Special Edition)

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DVD Reviews of Mr. Deeds (Widescreen Special Edition)

DVD Review: I blame the director and writer not Sandler for this one
Summary: 3 Stars

Now, the irony is that all of those films were written by Tim Herilhy, Adam Sandler's college roommate, who did the screenplay for "Mr. Deeds," which was based on the script Robert Riskin wrote for the Frank Capra film, which was based on the short story "Opera Hat" by Clarence Budington Kelland. Now that I have seen the film my problem is not with Sandler's performance, but rather with Herilhy's script. The idea of course is that Deeds is to good for the big bad city, but Herilhy fails to show a firm grasp on exactly why that is the case. Gary Cooper's Longfellow Deeds was a hick from Mandrake Falls (in Vermont) but still savvy enough to know what is right. Adam Sandler's version comes from Mandrake Falls (in New Hampshire) and is a good-hearted goof, but in the final analysis that is not enough to save the day and I can argue that the biggest difference between the two versions is that in this won the title character is not the ultimate hero of the film. It is easy to go through and talk about the similarities and differences between the two films, but it would be more profitable just to talk about what Herilhy decided to keep and how there is no consistent logic behind the decisions.

The entire film is a series of hits and misses in terms of the comedy and the performances. I thought Winona Ryder's performance had some good moments once she figured out her Babe Bennett character was in love with Deeds, while John Turturro's Spanish butler Emilio is fairly engaging (except for the stupid foot fetish joke--a last second addition to the screenplay that Herilhy and director Steven Brill laud on the commentary track, which pretty much proves they are clueless on what works and does not work in this film). I like Erick Avari as Cecil Anderson mainly because I like bald-headed bearded guys in big movies and he does the high vocal bridge on "Space Oddity." But Peter Gallagher plays a cartoon villain as Chuck Cedar and where is the scene where Mac McGrath (Jared Harris) gets his comeuppance? (assuming, of course, that the idea here was to flip the role of his counter part in the original). Meanwhile, Conchata Ferrell, another long-time favorite has too many wasted moments as Jan and Steve Buscemi's cameo as Crazy Eyes absolutely proves these guys are just clowning around.

Besides wanting to go back and watch the Capra original after watching "Mr. Deeds," I really hope that Sandler noticed his bank account is healthy and that the revelation of his performance in "Punch-Drunk Love" was a sign to stop hanging around with the old gang so much in the future. Sandler could have scored big in "Mr. Deeds," but not with this team.

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