In "Mr. Deeds" Sandler tries to be the straight man-- the only laughs he goes for involve beating the crap out of anyone who messes with him and assaulting people with tennis balls.  Now, Sandler is not a bad actor.  I wouldn't want him to try his hand at a purely dramatic role, like Jim Carrey in "The Majestic", but let's just say that at least he can keep a straight face.  And he can be quite charming.  But I paid to see the funnyman Adam Sandler.  

      The movie gets off to a very, very slow start and picks up the pace a bit at the 30-minute mark.  There are a few good laughs, mostly provided by the lovely cameos.  One was the great Steve Buscemi, who plays Crazy Eyes (his name says it all).  He's a complete burn-out and watches his friend Deeds's funeral on TV and says, "This is Deeds's funeral?  I thought this was 'Scooby-Doo.'"  Only Buscemi can give perfect delivery of that line and make it funny.  Also expect an amusing cameo by the Reverend Al Sharpton.  He's a decent guy and I actually got to shake his hand when he spoke at my school, so I'm very fond of him.  

      Sandler regular Allen Covert, who sports a goofy look in every one of his films, has some funny moments as Winona Ryder's pathetic, perverted, red-headed right-hand man.  And there's John Turturro as the "sneaky" Spanish butler.  He also has a few funny moments, but I couldn't help but think how much funnier he was as Jesus Quintana in "The Big Lebowski"--and he was only in that movie for 3 minutes!  Keep a lookout for Rob Schneider, reprising his role in "Big Daddy."  There's an unconventional female fight scene that's worth a barrel of laughs, though it comes completely out of the blue.  

      The comedy is hit-or-miss--this is no "Billy Madison" or "Happy Gilmore."  As low-brow as his films are, I usually end up laughing my ass off.  There are scenes where I actually forced myself to laugh.  If there's anything memorable about this movie:  Winona Ryder has never looked hotter! 

     -- Matt ( 2 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Patsy ( 1 out of 4 pops )

      Let me just start by saying that I could be considered an Adam Sandler fan.  I love "Happy Gilmore", "Billy Madison", "The Wedding Singer", and to a lesser extent "Big Daddy" and "The Water Boy".  I saw parts of "Little Nicky" and was mildly amused-- but overall I'd say it's a bad movie.  I guess Adam is on a roll because "Mr. Deeds" has about as much chuckle-age (I know it's not a real word, just roll with it) as a bad episode of "Spy TV".  Ever see that show?  There was a clip from the show where a lady saying "My son's in that potty!" as a Port-a-John flew through the air-- attached to a helicopter.  That 10 second clip alone made me laugh more that this entire movie-- sad isn't it?  So not only was "Mr. Deeds" a pathetic piece of crap but now we all know we can look forward to another future Sandler Stinker-- did you see the trailer for "8 Crazy Nights"?  Dear God, Allah, Krishna, or whatever-- make it stop! 

      Billy Ray ( 0 out of 4 pops )

      Whoa, what a crappy movie.  I have never been a big Adam Sandler fan.  I thought "Happy Gilmore" was funny, but only because of a hilarious performance from Chris MacDonald.  I enjoyed "Airheads" because of everyone else but Sandler.  The rest of his films were pretty much crap.  And, keeping the tradition alive, "Mr. Deeds" is a pathetic attempt at comedy and possibly the worst remake I have ever seen.  Adam Sandler films are like one extra long Saturday Night Live skit, with some celebrities and other big name stars thrown in for some added appeal.  Folks like Steve Buscemi and Robin Williams pop up, and they do add some credibility, but aren't nearly enough to make this loser a winner--if Jimmy Stewart came back from the dead to costar in an Adam Sandler picture, it would probably still be worthless, despite a good performance from Stewart.  So, this one is a waste of time and, as I anticipated, is also one of the worst flicks of the year.  This one makes you wish you had never been born.