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MOVIE REVIEW

Mr. Deeds

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA)

for language including sexual references, and some rear nudity.

Reviewed by: Ryan Izay
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating:	Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	Teens Adults
Genre:	Romance Comedy
Length:	1 hr. 36 min.
Year of Release:	2002
USA Release:

Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder in “Mr. Deeds”

Featuring	Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, Steve Buscemi, Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris
Director	Steven Brill
Producer	Sidney Ganis, Jack Giarraputo
Distributor	Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures

For those who have had the pleasure of watching Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, a Frank Capra classic, you may find that this Sandler remake/homage possesses all the heart of a Capra film. The characters are likeable and fun just as they were in the original. Unfortunately, many believe that the film genre today is past the point where that is enough to satisfy an audience. So many today will not sit through a charming, clever film without the mandatory toilet humor. Especially if the film stars Adam Sandler. (Though results from Dr. Ted Baehr’s of Movieguide seem to indicate otherwise). So, what could easily have been a fun family film was turned into something best viewed by teenagers who find a man soaping his butt funny.

Mr. Deeds is the classic fish out of water story. An extremely nice man from a small town finds himself the only heir of a fortune and must go into the big city for the first time in his life. He then proceeds to teach everyone a lesson in manners, often with his fists. Some decent date material also comes out of this film thanks to the presence of Winona Ryder, a reporter who pretends to be the girl next door in order to get a story out of Deeds.

It’s always refreshing to see a movie that has a good message to it, even if it must use bathroom humor along the way. Mr. Deeds does have a good message and is much cleaner than any of Sandler’s other films, but it still might be a good idea not to take any children under 12 to see this one. Even then it depends on the viewer. There is the presence of some objectionable language (“…5 sexual references, 16 scatological terms, 13 anatomical terms, 18 mild obscenities, 5 religious exclamations…” according to Kids-in-Mind), some non-sexual nudity, cleavage, and sexual innuendo. The only other thing to worry about is the violence, but it never goes beyond what could be seen in such PG films as “Home Alone.”

Positive
Negative
Young people
Critics

Positive

Positive—This was an “okay” film; I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen much worse! Don’t go expecting a clever plot or to be moved or changed in any way, but if you are looking for light fun, I think it’s worth the bucks. It really was silly, and pretty corny and predictable, but I found myself giggling at the silliest things; i.e. the “sneaky” Spaniard, the fire-rescue scene, and overall just Adam Sandler’s innocent naivety. There were a few swears, a couple of slightly objectionable scenes, but nothing that shocked or offended me too greatly; not sex or nudity which was refreshing. The moral of the story was good; that goodness wins over wealth.
My Ratings: [Average / 2]

L S, age 40

Positive—This movie was Hilarious. I just about laughed throughout the whole movie. Morally I found the storyline to be very good except for a few swear words. The cool thing was how Mr. Deeds valued all people from the lowest to the greatest. Good movie!!!
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 5]

Scott Grosjean, age 25

Positive—I really loved this movie! I thought it was hilarious, it was definitely one of the funniest movies ever! Of course this is Adam Sandler so there was some some objectional stuff in it, but it was more than made up for in the sweet story. I really liked how the money had no effect on him. Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone who needs a good laugh, it’ll be worth it.
My Ratings: [Average / 5]

Bob, age 19

Negative

Negative—We took our 2 kids to see this movie because we heard that Adam Sandler played a decent guy, and that he didn’t use the language we’re accustomed to hearing him use. However, the language from the other characters was horribly out of control, and the sexual innuendos almost worse. I admit that I like the slapstick humor used in the movie, and I laughed a lot—especially over the Spanish butler (hilarious!). But the language was so disappointing that my husband and I decided to stay away from all PG-13 movies for the time being.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 3½]

Stephanie, age 40

Negative—Adam Sandler has succeeded in making another movie that is just the same as his others. Ever since Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, Sandler’s flicks have gone downhill in quality. This one, definitely, was a bore. The jokes were lame, and the plot was dumb. The only funny part was the Spanish guy, who was “sneaky.” Other than that, don’t waste $7.50 to see this boring movie.
My Ratings: [Average / 1½]

Dacus, age 18

Movie Critics

…unfunny remake stomps all over the honest values and endearing qualities of the original…

Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun

…On some level, I can… appreciate Sandler’s decision to remake himself as a purveyor of lightweight family entertainment (“Mr. Deeds” has no sex or nudity, maybe one cuss word and a little cartoon-style violence). There is something fundamentally bogus, however, about this movie’s painfully earnest presentation of its plain-spoken, heartland-America values…

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon

…I took my college-age daughter and her boyfriend (who are Sandler aficionados) to Mr. Deeds, and we laughed all the way through this movie. Still, in the end they concurred that Happy Gilmore remains Sandler’s funniest movie…

Holly McClure, Crosswalk

Comments from young people

Positive—I really enjoy watching Adam Sandler movies. He really gets kids to laugh, I think he is a great entertainer. I wouldn’t send kids from the age 10 and under to see this movie.
My Ratings: [Average / 3½]

Miles, age 11

Positive—This movie was great!!!… My cousin and I loved it. Although, the reporter started to lie, and one of God’s testaments is not to lie.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 5]

Grace, age 11

Positive—Mr. Deeds was an enjoyable watch. There were a few implications and raunchy additions which were “necessary” to be a teenage movie, but for the most part, I thought it was a clean, sweet story of a really kind, really loving guy who only tried to help other people. This film stressed the importance of honesty, sensitivity, and respect for other people. I really enjoyed this laugh out loud comedy, and I went back and watched it again the next night.
My Ratings: [Average / 3]

Joe G., age 15

Positive—This movie has greatly raised my future expectations for future Adam Sandler movies. Again like a lot of others have said I was expecting an offensive vulgar motion picture as most of Adam Sandler’s flicks usually are. Yet on the contrary I really enjoyed this movie. For one Sandler’s character didn’t have a really bad attitude for a change, which really made me happy. My overall perception was that it was quite clean and had a good theme. I recommend this one.
My Ratings: [Average / 3½]

Brandon Mitchell, age 14

Negative—This movie was extremely stupid! It’s one of the stupidest movies I’ve ever seen in my life. It didn’t have much of a point to it, and it wasn’t very funny at all. I was expecting it to be at least comical, but there weren’t very many funny parts. There is some language, and I hated the shower part. Don’t waste your money!
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 1½]

Nadia, age 14

Neutral—Mr Deeds is a basic Adam Sandler movie… Even though I definitely didn’t like this one as much as Happy Gilmore. A few funny moments but most of it kind of a snooze. I wouldn’t see it a second time, pretty much a waste of an hour and a half. It was incredibly predictable. But again if you love Adam Sandler and that kind of humor. This is your movie!
My Ratings: [Average / 3]

Kaley, age 16

Positive—I thought it was a really good movie. the only bad part is all the language… but it was the funniest movie I have seen in a while… it was hilarious! I think if u are really offended by language then don’t go see it… but I will say it was soo funny!!!… I loved it!
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 5]

Stef, age 15

Positive—When I saw the previews for the new Adam Sandler movie, Mr. Deeds, I cringed. I thought that it was just probably another, worthless, raunchy comedy (like most of the Sandler movies). Well, despite my bad feelings, I went to go see it with one of my friends. And, it turns out that it was the best Adam Sandler movie ever!! Some parts were funny (such as Sandler would punch somebody’s lights out because he swore “in front of the ladies”). The only problem was with the swear words that some of the characters in the movie would utter. There was some violence, but all done in a comedy way. It had pretty good morals in Mr. Deeds. For example, Mr. Deeds didn’t want his money and gave it to charity because he missed his hometown. It didn’t teach about greed, like I thought it was. I got out of it is that friends are more important than billions of dollars.
My Ratings: [Average / 3½]

Nate, age 14

Positive—Mr. Deeds was the best Adam Sandler I have ever seen and I have seen them all. It was not only hilarious, it was sweet. Deeds is an all around good guy and he never changes with money, which is a good thing. There is some cussing and violence but nothing extremely offensive. All the violence is played for laughs. I recommend this movie to all teenagers and adults who are fans of romantic comedies or Adam Sandler movies.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 4]

Staci Farfsing, age 15

Positive—It was so funny except 4 the shower part but thatz all!
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 3½]

Sheeva Orlando, age 12