Product Details

• Actors: Susan Sarandon, Billy Bob Thornton, Ethan Suplee, Seann William Scott, Amy Poehler
• Directors: Craig Gillespie
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: New Line Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 15, 2008
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000YDKA94
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,272 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Mr. Woodcock" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Rhetorical question: What’s the only thing that can keep a potentially bad movie’s head above water? Good actors, or course. Sure, the Dodgeball-esque scenes of Billy Bob Thornton viciously pegging second-graders with a basketball are chuckle-inducing (It appeals to the America’s Funniest Home Videos lover in all of us), but the movie didn’t quite live up to the promising plot. John Farley (Seann William Scott) plays a bestselling self-help author who was once a portly underachiever often bullied and terrorized by his militant (and potentially lawsuit-causing) gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). When he’s invited to receive his Nebraska hometown’s most coveted award, the corn cob key, he decides to pay his mother (Susan Sarandon) a visit. With horror, he discovers that she’s planning on getting married to the sinister Mr. Woodcock. And, of course, the rest of the movie shows John’s unraveling as he tries with all his might (and "corny" predictability) to stop that from happening. The movie provides some good laughs, but it’s definitely on the B-list for the likes of these hilarious starring actors. --Jordan Thompson

Product Description

As a chubby 7th grader, John Farley (Seann William Scott) and his friends were helpless against the most evil man on the planet - their P.E. teacher Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). Flash forward years later - John, now successful, thin and able to do a pull-up, returns to his hometown only to discover that Mr. Woodcock is still in his life ...and dating his mum (Susan Sarandon)! John vows to do whatever it takes to stop their relationship, but Woodcock has plans of his own - and they don't include losing. It's a face-off of outrageous proportions in this no-holds barred comedy directed by Aussie-born Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) and co-starring Amy Poehler (Blades of Glory) and Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's the Subtext, Stupid!, July 1, 2008

By	Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is definitely a treasure film for a college seminar in post-modernist interpretations of trash, to be taught in Mitchell, Nebraska, the corn capital of America. The first level of unintendedly honest expression is that "self-righteousness trounces sensitivity" every time." Thus it's patent that Mr. Woodcock is a political movie, a depiction of the Republican party thumping the liberals, or perhaps even a fictive replay of Dick! Cheney running over poor feel-good John Edwards in their televised debate. But wait! Another seminar star has a more appealingly far-fetched interpretation of the movie, as a foreshortened depiction of Muslim-Christian conflict, and we're invited to guess who mirrors whom. Then there's a Minnesota farmboy in the seminar who says the film was all about self-evasion by a script-writer who never earned his dad's respect by punching the ornery cuss back. Everyone in the seminar squeals 'oh, how pre-post-modern of you' but hey, there's no final interpretation, and that's final!

Billy Bob Thornton's performance is the only thing worth watching in this universally disclaimed flop. He's the spitting image of a coach I had in high school. I felt such an urge to put a fist through his face that my plasma screen jiggled like jello for its life. But wouldn't you know, the odious mediocrity Woodcock (the name is not without seminar value) gets "exonerated" in the end, his bullying justified! while the big-city-liberal mama's boy shows backbone at last by fighting the coach.
Maybe it is an allegory of America vs the World after all.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "You must like getting spanked Farley, I guess it runs in the family.", September 14, 2007

By	Mike Zimmerman (Danville, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After surviving the wrath of his take-no-prisoners gym teacher Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), John Farley (Seann William Scott) has grown from a fat nerd to a successful self-help book author. On his way home to accept a citizenship award at this year's Cornival, he finds out his mother Beverly (Susan Sarandon) is dating Woodcock for quite a while. With his forgotten past now back, he make whatever attempts he can to prove to his mother that Woodcock is no good for him.

You know, some less-than-successful comedies have at least some charm to make them at least get some worthy laughs. "Hot Rod", as silly as it was, benefited from Andy Samberg's determined performance that gave him a movie career once he breaks free from "Saturday Night Live"'s grasp. But when it comes to a film like "Mr. Woodcock", sometimes there isn't much hope. Adding insult to injury was the fact that it spent quite a while in hiding before being unleashed to unsuspecting moviegoers.

First off, there is a solid cast backed here: Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Ethan Suplee, Amy Poehler, and Susan Sarandon. Honestly, a cast like this can bring any material to life. However, a cast like this needs a stable filmmaker to help guide them, and Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") is not the filmmaker for the job.

I must disgress that leads Thornton and Scott are very funny men, but unless the film is rated R or even funny, they can bomb right at the start. That's probably why Thornton's biting one-liners and drill sergeant delivery, which worked so well in "Bad Santa" and "Bad News Bears", feel like leftovers. Scott's an even bigger curiosity; is he trying to mimic his "Dude, Where's My Car" co-star Ashton Kutcher's move from a comic powerhouse to a nice guy in movies? Only co-stars Suplee and Poehler come off unscathed and deliver the film's source of laughs that the film so desperately desires.

The rest of the film is flat and been-there-done-that: crotch whallops, pratfalls involving senior citizens (not even Adam Sandler would dare use this as comedy), sexual innuendo (the banging-your-mom line is used ad nauseum), a love interest (Melissa Sagemiller) that doesn't fit in with the film, and even sentimentality. The latter one is a crushing blow. It's not as mind-numbingly grim as Adam Sandler's "Click", but once Farley tries to unmask Woodcock's supposed evildoings, Gillespie tries to paint sympathy that is hardly warranted in the first place.

It's a shame that Mr. Woodcock is such a lame film, because whenever Gillespie films scenes with Suplee or Poehler, it's where he's in a comfort zone, allowing these two fine comic actors ease pain that would've came had they not been in the film. Regardless, it's still not a funny film, and disappointing work from Scott, Thornton, and Sarandon. And to think David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") was involved; maybe his collaborations with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn were flukes?

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not horrible, but not great either..., January 19, 2008

By	terpfan1980 "Barry" (Somewhere near Washington DC, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Woodcock [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

A few laughs are sprinkled in here and there, but at best this is a 2.5 star effort, if that.

Billy Bob Thornton seems to be continuing the role that he played in School for Scoundrels. Seann William Scott plays the picked on school kid (John Farley) that suffered at the hands of the sadistic gym teacher played by Billy Bob Thornton. Susan Sarandon is the mother of Seann William Scott who just happens to be dating Thornton's Mr. Woodcock, which leaves Farley wondering just why his mother can't see how horrible Woodcock really is. (My wife noted that the Seann William Scott role here is similar to that played by Richard Dreyfus in What About Bob?)

At 87 minutes running time, at least the movie ends fairly quickly. If you like Billy Bob Thornton, you may enjoy this movie more than others. Same for the Seann William Scott fans out there (I assume there are a few). Outside of that, consider finding your entertainment value elsewhere.

I'm glad my PS3 didn't spit out the disc, but then again it would be nice if Blu-ray was used for something better.