Director: Steven Brill
Writer: Tim Herlihy (Screenplay)
Starring: Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Allen Covert, Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris, Erick Avari
Plot: A sweet-natured, small-town guy inherits a controlling stake in a media conglomerate and begins to do business his way.
Tagline – Small town kid, big time right hook
Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Mr Deeds starts when Preston Blake a billionaire dies, leaving his inheritance to his long-lost nephew Longfellow Deeds (Sandler) a small town sweet-natured guy. Deeds is taken to New York where Chuck Cedar (Gallagher) and Cecil (Avari) look to handle the affairs for he newly found fortune of $40 Billion.
When the news teams look to learn more about the mysterious Longfellow Deeds, Babe Bennett (Ryder) poses as a shy school nurse to get close to him, leading to him to fall in love with her, as he learns the harsh reality of the big city.
Thoughts on Mr Deeds
Characters & Performances – Longfellow Deeds comes from a small town where he always looks after every member of the town, knowing what they love in life, bringing a smile to everyone. He learns that he has inherited a fortune and must travel to New York to decide what to do with his new found wealth, his kindness can get taken advantage of while he is where falls in love and must try to do the right thing for everyone. Adam Sandler might often get a lot of stick, but in this one, he keeps the calmness levels down, giving us a nice guy character. Babe Bennett is a reporter looking to make a story out of the newly found billionaire, getting close to him pretending to be a romantic interest, she is left in the middle of this where she doesn’t know how to handle the situation, she has found herself in. Winona Ryder does a good job in this role, showing both sides of her character well. Chuck Cedar is running the business while the takeover happens, he is always looking to create the problem to make sure he ends up with all the money. We get to also meet the people Deeds helps out along the way, showing that an act of kindness will give someone a chance to find something better in life.
Story – The story here follows a kind natured man that inherits a fortune, one that will change his life, but it won’t change the way he treats people in life, always showing his true kind nature despite how many people try to take advantage of his new found money. This is a remake of a much-loved movie, which does have the Adam Sandler take on it, he isn’t insulting in this film, giving the character a big heart that only wants to do the right thing in life for everyone. It is an important story about being good to people who are on a different financial level to you, which will everyone the series important of life.
Themes – Mr Deeds is a comedy that takes a person from a small town to a big city where they will get the chance to use their kind nature to try and change people, with the loose romance side of the film not giving much substance to the importance of being nice to people.
Final Thoughts – Mr Deeds is a fun comedy that will give us an important message about life.
