Mr. Deeds (2002)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Steven Brill

Writers (WGA):

Clarence Budington Kelland (short story "Opera Hat") and
Robert Riskin (film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town) ...

Release Date:

28 June 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Don't let the fancy clothes fool you.

Plot:

A sweet-natured, small-town guy inherits a controlling stake in a media conglomerate and begins to do business his way.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Reporter | Love | Office | Sneaky Butler

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	Longfellow Deeds
Winona Ryder	...	Babe Bennett
John Turturro	...	Emilio Lopez
Allen Covert	...	Marty
Peter Gallagher	...	Chuck Cedar
Jared Harris	...	Mac McGrath
Erick Avari	...	Cecil Anderson
Peter Dante	...	Murph
Conchata Ferrell	...	Jan
Harve Presnell	...	Preston Blake
Steve Buscemi	...	Crazy Eyes
Blake Clark	...	Buddy Ward, the Quarterback's Father
John McEnroe	...	Himself
J.B. Smoove	...	Reuben
Tom McNulty	...	Red Parka Man

Also Known As:

Deeds (USA) (working title)
Mister Deeds (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language including sexual references, and some rear nudity.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Austria:10 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38098) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Camp Whittle - 31701 Rim of the World Drive, Fawnskin, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When filming the scene where Deeds beats up Marty Allen Covert got spun around by Sandler, slipped on the sidewalk and his skull hit the concrete with no protection and was unconscious for a minute.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Deeds slides into the table, before he hits it, it has started to break.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Preston Blake: I'm gonna get to the top of Everest, if it's the last thing I do!
[cut to his frozen but triumphant body clinging to the summit of Mount Everest]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Soundtrack:

My Best Friend's Girl

Very Funny But ..........

This, once again, has most of the earmarks of modern-day comedies: tons of sexual innuendos, lots of good laughs but many of them out of questionable lines or behavior, and a stupid, rushed ending that tries to make all the good guys win and the bad guys lose. The latter is fine - I want the good guys to prevail - but they way they go about it is stupid.

I did think this movie had a little softer edge than most other blatantly-low class "Something About Mary/American Pie"-type comedies of today however. I guess what I am saying is this isn't as in-your-face type offensive most of the rest are.

Of course, Adam Sandler is playing the low-key Gary Cooper role of Mr. Deeds from the 1940s, so he's not the high-strung Happy Gilmore type here, although he does get violent at times. Winona Ryder plays the love interest, a tabloid low-moral reporter who is reformed by the amiable Mr. Deeds. She's not believable at all and one can see one reason she isn't much of star actress anymore. It isn't just her real-life problems. She's pretty and she's okay in the role but something's missing in her acting.

The real star of the film is John Turturro, as the Spanish butler. He's funny in about every scene he's in and he's a guy everyone roots for here.

In summary, it's a pretty nice film, with a number of laugh-out-loud scenes, but it's still a long way from the Gary Cooper-Barabara Stanwyck classic film version, at least in terms of an aw-shucks wholesome hero. This film just doesn't have the heart and soul of the original, because it's more concerned with cheap laughs than a moral message. Still, it has its funny moments and I found worth watching.