Adam Sandler movies have become pretty predictable events. A few details change here and there, but for the most part, the comedian and his crew play things safe. And why not? With the exception of Little Nicky (a film that might have succeeded if he’d strayed from formula), audiences like it that way.
Oh, he’s grown a little bit. When Sandler first started out, his screen character was a violent foul-mouthed man-child gradually tamed by his new society. If along the way he taught others to loosen up, it would be purely coincidental. With Mr. Deeds, Sandler has circled around, and his Longfellow Deeds is the innocent thrust into a violent, foul-mouthed society.
Deeds still has violent tendencies, to allow for the requisite slapstick. (Though he doesn’t possess the finesse of The Three Stooges; Sandler still pretty much simply beats the crap out of people.) Steve Buscemi pops up for his standard Sandler cameo, and the few other actors that you only see in Sandler films are here, too.
Luckily, it’s also pretty funny.
Deeds runs a pizza parlor in a small New Hampshire town, but he really dreams of writing greeting cards for Hallmark. Though sweet in intent, he’s a lousy poet, but everyone in town still loves to hear him read a new attempt each day. In return, he pretty much takes care of everybody, delivering pizzas to the hungry free of charge, and willing to brush it off when his (possibly) brain-damaged employee gets caught playing hooky from work. Unbeknownst to Deeds, he’s the sole surviving relative of billionaire multimedia king Preston Blake (Harve Presnell), and about to inherit a financial empire. That is, of course, unless Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher) manages to convince him to sell out completely.
Quickly enough, the film settles into the usual fish out of water formula, with bumpkin Sandler applying his down-home values to a high-class world. (Great-uncle Preston seemed to be not too sophisticated, either; the drinking fountain in his bedroom serves Hawaiian Punch.) The other fly in the ointment comes from a tabloid news show determined to get the goods on Deeds. They send in Babe (Winona Ryder), who tells Deeds she’s Pam Dawson, a school nurse. Being a romantic comedy (and a re-make of a Capra film), her heart soon melts and the cynical hard-bitten newswoman falls in love with a naïf.
Yes, the plot is predictable and stale. But plot barely matters in Sandler movies, even those based on classics. It’s really all about the characters and the bits they do. Sandler gets in quite a few funny moments, including leading a sing-along of Space Oddity on his private jet. And if you think the frostbitten foot joke has been ruined by the commercial, know that it’s longer in the movie, and as a result, still works.
Stealing quite a bit of the movie from Sandler is John Turturro, that uptight butler who skewers his foot in the frostbite gag. Normally known for intense, slightly seedy characters, Turturro runs away with every scene he’s in, as the Spanish butler Emilio. Not only does he appear to be having a terrible amount of fun, but he gets the character trait that I predict children will be imitating all summer: a near-supernatural sneakiness. At one point, he even gets to pull a Batman-like disappearance on Sandler. It’s stupid but hilarious, and proves that you should never underestimate “the power of the sneakiness.”
Sandler’s regulars do not fare quite so well. In his usual outrageous costume and wig role, college buddy Allen Covert barely registers. For some reason, he decided to let the costume take the place of characterization, and it just doesn’t work. His slightly sleazy TV producer Marty acts straight, but looks gay, always working on the edge of a joke that never pays off. As Deeds’ delivery boy, Peter Dante chooses a character without nearly as much conviction as he had in Little Nicky. Only Buscemi makes a memorable appearance, mostly because his character, Crazy Eyes, lives up to the name.
Those just slumming in Sandler-world do okay, but they’re just cogs in a funny machine. Gallagher oozes the requisite slime, while Jared Harris goes over the top in a feeble imitation of his father, Richard. (He’s a good actor, normally, just not a funny one. Comedy isn’t for everybody.)
Ryder plugs along bravely. Cast in a classic movie-heroine role, she plays against her strengths. Off-screen she may be strong, a little crazy, and very, very sexual, but that’s just not something that has ever been part of her screen persona. Trying to give a false layer to “Pam” (a role actually closer to how she works best in movies) just doesn’t work. But again, the women in Sandler films don’t really matter much; only Drew Barrymore has ever emerged actually being a plus. The only actor in a more thankless role this summer has been James Garner in The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
Harumph. Not that I’d know.
If you like Adam Sandler movies, Mr. Deeds will definitely be a must-see this weekend. However, if you hate the guy, there may be nothing I can say to change your mind. You might just be surprised, though; even if he is no Gary Cooper, Mr. Deeds delivers laughs and has a little bit of charm.
