Cast: Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Jared Harris, Peter Gallagher, Allen Covert, Conchata Ferrell
Director: Steven Brill
Producers: Sidney Ganis, Jack Giarraputo
Screenplay: Tim Herlihy, based on the screenplay by Robert Riskin
Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
With Mr. Deeds, Adam Sandler follows the first rule of remakes: don't regurgitate, reinvent. Unfortunately, while this version of the fable is different enough from Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town that we don't see Sandler as a Gary Cooper impersonator, that doesn't mean it's a wicked good movie. In fact, Sandler, who is at his best when he's being rude, obnoxious, and acerbic, is ill-suited to play the part of a loveable innocent. The role doesn't match his strengths, and it shows in the movie's low laugh quotient and sluggish pace. Mr. Deeds is flat, except on those rare occasions when Sandler reverts to form or when John Turturro steals one of many scenes.
It has been said that it would be impossible to successfully remake It's a Wonderful Life because so much of what made the film work cannot be recaptured. While the original Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is not nearly as successful a movie, it has a charm that is entirely absent from the remake. Perhaps what's missing is the Capra magic. At any rate, while I'm not willing to go out on a limb and say it's inconceivable that a good remake can be produced, Mr. Deeds isn't it. Like last year's A.I., in which Spielberg warred with Kubrick, Mr. Deeds is an inappropriate marriage. Sandler can beat up Bob Barker with a golf club, he can urinate on a wall alongside a kid, but he cannot give himself over to Capra-corn.
Sandler is Longfellow Deeds, the owner of a pizza parlor in tiny Mandrake Falls, New Hampshire. He also happens to be the closest living relative of one of the richest men in the world, who has just died in a freak mountain climbing accident. Now, kind and self-effacing Deeds is in line to earn a wicked cool $40 billion. All he has to do is come to New York and sell his shares of Blake Enterprises to Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher), the sneaky skunk who wants to break up the company and sell it off piecemeal. Deeds is unimpressed with the big city until he meets Babe Bennett a.k.a. Pam Dawson (Winona Ryder), a reporter posing as a damsel in distress who is hoping to get the scoop on the nation's newest eligible bachelor for her tabloid TV show. However, as is often the case in situations like this, Pam genuinely falls for Deeds, only to have everything come apart when he learns the truth.
Mr. Deeds, directed by Steven Brill (who helmed Sandler's disastrous outing, Little Nicky), has several obvious problems. Aside from the paucity of funny jokes, the film fails to develop characters we care about. Capra's version worked because we had an emotional investment in Deeds. In this case, he's just a subdued Adam Sandler. The romance is so silly, cartoonish, and unconvincing that it fails to tweak the heartstrings even a little. I'm surprised the filmmakers spent so much time on a pairing that doesn't work, with two actors who have no chemistry. And, by now, the luster has come off of Winona Ryder's career. She can no longer play the ingenue, and has yet to show the ability to portray a woman.
For those in search of a bright spot, it comes in the person of John Turturro, who plays another in his large gallery of wacky supporting characters. In this case, he's Emilio, Deeds' lightning-quick servant, whose loyalty to his boss is almost as strong as his foot fetish. Turturro gets most of the wicked funny lines, and, consequently, the lion's share of the laughs. Also making an appearance is Steve Buscemi as "Crazy Eyes". I'm not sure why he's in the film, since he doesn't do much, but, like Turturro, he makes for a pleasant secondary point of interest. This is important, because the primary focus of Mr. Deeds is lackluster.
Die-hard Sandler fans seem to appreciate their hero no matter what he's in, so it's virtually a lock that they'll like at least some of what Mr. Deeds has to offer. For the movie-going public in general, however, this is very much of a mixed bag, with enough negatives to outweigh the positives. The movie isn't horribly made or unwatchable, but it is uninspired (even considering that the underlying premise has already been brought to the screen by the master of manipulation, Frank Capra). Mr. Deeds is more mediocre than magical, and, as a result, not worth more than a wicked cursory glance.
© 2002 James Berardinelli