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Following the flop of
Little Nicky, Adam Sandler returned to safe territory in
Mr. Deeds... and made
Nicky look inspired by comparison. A loose remake of Frank Capra's 1936 classic
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, this dumbed-down version finds Sandler in the Gary Cooper role, inheriting a vast fortune and a corporate empire, foiling a greedy executive (Peter Gallagher), and winning the heart of an undercover reporter (Winona Ryder) who's been mocking his small-town naiveté in print while falling for his goodhearted sincerity. It's fun enough to satisfy Sandler's loyal fans--and John Turturro's a hoot as Deeds's foot-fetishist butler--but the subtleties of Capra are lost on Sandler, director Steven Brill, and writer Tim Herlihy. While Gary Cooper portrayed a rube who was savvy about big-city cynicism, Sandler's an amiable goofball with a heart of gold and an empty skull. You can admire him, and parts of the movie (including Steve Buscemi's unbilled cameo), but you have to work harder to get there.
--Jeff Shannon
It's billed as an homage to the 1936 Capra classic, but the only tradition being watered down is the Adam Sandler movie. He's one of the more gifted wisecrackers around, but most of his routines-the deadpan sincerity, the over-the-top regular guyness, the non-actors he lines up for odd cameos-seem stale and second rate in this, his seventh starring vehicle. The over-all experience is like listening to a decent pop song you've heard too many times. The chief pleasure is John Turturro, who steals the movie as a "sneaky, sneaky" butler with a foot fetish. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006
The New Yorker
