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Adam Sandler has long been the Razzies’ punching bag. In 2012 he famously swept every category at the 32nd Golden Raspberry awards for Jack and Jill, in which Sandler plays both eponymous characters. Almost a decade earlier, at the 2003 ceremony, director Steven Brill’s Mr Deeds – starring Sandler – was nominated for worst remake or sequel. Though it ultimately lost to Guy Ritchie’s Swept Away, the nomination suggested a dim view on the film’s attempts to renovate the original – the 1936 Mr Deeds Goes to Town, directed by the indomitable, six-time Oscar-winning Frank Capra – as well as Sandler’s performance in it.
Though Mr Deeds isn’t Sandler’s most popular or critically acclaimed film, it is an endearing watch, and not so far removed from the hallowed image of Capra’s original.
Like many of Capra’s films, which are about a naive and idealistic everyman propped up against the machine, Sandler’s Billy Maddison, Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy are just as interested in divisions of class and wealth; their studies of the human condition are etched by Sandler’s developmentally arrested man-children. After all, what is Click if not a “dirtbag gen X remake” of It’s a Wonderful Life?
The 2002 Mr Deeds follows the general schematic of its source material. Deeds (Sandler) inherits a $40b fortune and control of a global media empire from a distant relative. He’s whisked from his simple small town life, slinging pizzas and writing sappy greeting cards, and brought to New York City to sort out his affairs, where he’s beseeched by money hungry conglomerate CEO Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher) and hounded by the tabloid press.
Charmingly, this version retains the archaic names of its characters. Deeds’ first name is Longfellow – an anachronism Sandler’s character is cheekily hush hush about (“easy with that Longfellow stuff!” he says). The scheming journo (Winona Ryder), desperate to get the scoop on the beneficiary’s identity by assuming another persona, is named Babe Bennett. She fictionalises a lady-in-distress scenario and goes by Pam Dawson to cosy up to Deeds for details. Deeds is smitten with Pam – who’s pretending to be a school nurse hailing from the far-fetched reaches of “Winchestertonfieldville” – and unaware of her intentions.
Relative to Sandler’s more meme-able performances, Deeds is restrained and well intentioned. His sheer optimism and general affability is blinding to the capitalist interests of the suits. His virtuous qualities chafe against those who want to exploit such naivety for a quick buck. He greets the housekeepers of his shiny New York apartment with hugs, and befriends the sneaky butler, Emilio (John Turturro).
The film isn’t all hokey, however. The funniest parts come from flashes of Sandler’s characteristically crass humour. In the 1930s film, we see Deeds playfully probe the features of his new living space. He invites his housekeepers to yell into the echoing expanse of space, and neatly slides down the railing from the upper floor of the apartment. In the 2000s version, an elderly gent takes the chance to send “boob!” reverberating through the halls, and Deeds’ railing slide sends him crashing full speed into a table. The joy of this kind of noughties comedy lies in these flashes of absurdity, such as when characters inexplicably perform beyond their mortal means: John McEnroe’s cameo sees him jump over a moving vehicle; Babe dropkicks a woman through a table; Deeds scales a burning building like he’s Spider-Man.
The scene that holds the film together, though, is Pam’s sincere reading of Deeds’ schmaltzy greeting card poetry and its rudimentary rhyme schemes (“Finally time/for this poor schlub/To know how it feels to fall in lub”). It’s genuine movie magic.
Mr Deeds’ turn-of-the-century sentimentality and tidily sketched good v evil dynamic is a balm. Its stick-it-to-the-man themes are simplistic compared to the original, but it’s also one of Sandler’s most underrated lead roles. He’s not doing a silly little voice, and there’s a hokey authenticity to his buffoonery. The year 2003 wasn’t only Razzie territory for Sandler: it also saw him similarly tone down his excesses to lead Paul Thomas Anderson’s moody Punch-Drunk Love, in a decidedly serious performance that netted him his first Golden Globe nomination. A great film, but it nonetheless pales against the primitive pleasures of crude comic violence, like seeing people unexpectedly punched in the face.
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Mr Deeds is available to stream on Binge, Foxtel and Prime Video in Australia, and to buy or rent on Apple TV or Prime Video in the US and UK. Find more recommendations of what to stream in Australia here
