Reviews (149)

An adventure in mediocrity
Better than Little Nicky, far from Happy Gilmore, and on about the same level as The Waterboy, Mr. Deeds is decent, but not all that great. Adam Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds, a good man with a somewhat short temper, but ultimately mild mannered. When it is determined that he is the son of a recently deceased billionaire, he inherits the entire estate. The premise sounds good, and apparently it did before as it is based on the movie, "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town." That however doesn't help this movie. What does push it forward is some good acting, inventive characters, and a decent plot. Sandler has the ability to get more cameos into a movie than I thought physically possible. Al Sharpton, John MacEnroe (forgive the spelling), Rob Schneider, Kathy Bates, and others all wind up in this film and do an excellent job in supporting Sandler. Detracting seriously from the film though is Winnona Ryder. Why on Earth she is still an actress boggles my mind. She plays her part horribly and just sounds so atrocious. Her, and the dips in comedic action pull this film down 2 stars. Overall though it could be worse, given everything it's not that bad. It's an enjoyable film that can be viewed a few times without the effect wearing off.

Good rebound for Sandler after the "Nicky" bomb
I'm not going to compare this movie (tho loosely based) to the 1936 classic with Gary Cooper, "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town". Sure, the basic storyline is the same, but that's it. Cooper & Sander are totally different actors in totally different times. Cooper was a classic actor with a flair for some comedy, where Sandler is a comedian with a flair for some acting. "Deeds" did fairly well at the box office in 2002. Sandler proved there was life after his previous bomb, "Little Nicky". A great cast with Winona Ryder, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro - stealing the show with his "sneaky" one liners and his incurable foot fetish. You'll recognize some supporting cast members from some of Sandler's previous flicks ("Wedding Singer, "Big Daddy", etc). Tho on the short side of today's movie standards (approx 90 minutes), this film is enjoyable on all levels. Sandler is more of the naive bumbling comedian here (remniscent of his role in "Wedding Singer"), rather than relying on gross humor geered toward the older adolescent male movie watchers. Included on this DVD are the standard feature length commentaries, outtakes & deleted scenes, and miscellanious featurettes. For those Sandler fans, I put this one behind the classics "The Wedding Singer" and "Happy Gilmore"... but well above "The Waterboy", "Big Daddy" and "Little Nicky".

What the.........!?
Here's something you don't see everyday: an expectation that a movie will be good based on who stars in it being completely shafted. Actually, I get that feeling quite a bit, but never like this. Adam has been in some great movies (Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and, despite what everyone else seems to say about it, I loved Little Nicky). However, this movie is complete garbage, and those responsible for this Godforsaken piece of crap should be burned at the stake. I guess this was supposed to be based on an earlier version of this movie (Mr. Deeds goes to town or whatever), and I hope to God that movie is at least 100X better than this waste of space.

Let me get right to the point. This movie tanked from start to finish. Few movies have accomplished this, but this one does so as if doing so is a no-brainer. What I remember of the beginning is lame and boring, the freaks that Adam hangs around must have some sort of mental retardation (if you've seen the movie, you know I'm not talking about stupidity that is funny, but just plain retardation that sucks), and H-O-L-Y CRAP Winona Rider is in the movie; nuff said! The best part of the moive (and I say best only to emphasize how bad this movie is) is when Rider's character kicks the overweight pizza store manager in the crotch, and she says "What are you kickin there for? I ain't got no b*lls!" Geeeezzzzz.......I couldn't even try to laugh at this nonsense; what was Adam thinking? By the way, Adam is very mellow in this movie (except for a couple of scenes where he beats someone up, but it's not even near funny this time), just like in Waterboy, but without the lousy accent (thank God!). He writes poems for greeting cards for Christ's sake!!! How much more of a loser can you be? I guess he's trying to model himself after Jason Biggs (which is about as low as you can go). Just get me a gun so I can put this movie and myself out of our misery!

It's not what you got in the bank.....
Adam Sandler in another formula feel-good romantic comedy. As a simple guy in a New England Hicks-Town, Sandler is loved all the towns-folk for his cheerful disposition and his magical way of always wanting to help people out. When he is snatched away from his little piece of Paradise to accept a 40 billion dollar inheritance from a media tycoon in NYC, a snowball-effect of events starts to roll.

Vaguely similar to Steve Martin's "The Jerk", but sadly quite predictable and far fetched. Many side-gags for pop-culture buffs are included. The best one's are a take on "Mr. French" and references to the Sunday Funny Papers. The frequent "appearing/disappearing act" of the butler character at first is spooky, but works well with the surprise at the end. The final scene (I won't give it away) is a cute way of showing how much Deeds wants to help out the little people. Some of the "cut scenes" are hilarious, although some (like the pizza delivery) are a bit risque. Otherwise, this is safe bet for all ages. A very pleasant film.****

Ratings Comparisons
The original Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was given a three and a half out of four star rating on cable, but this version was only given one star.

This of course does not surprise me. ... Read more

Reviews (149)

An adventure in mediocrity
Better than Little Nicky, far from Happy Gilmore, and on about the same level as The Waterboy, Mr. Deeds is decent, but not all that great. Adam Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds, a good man with a somewhat short temper, but ultimately mild mannered. When it is determined that he is the son of a recently deceased billionaire, he inherits the entire estate. The premise sounds good, and apparently it did before as it is based on the movie, "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town." That however doesn't help this movie. What does push it forward is some good acting, inventive characters, and a decent plot. Sandler has the ability to get more cameos into a movie than I thought physically possible. Al Sharpton, John MacEnroe (forgive the spelling), Rob Schneider, Kathy Bates, and others all wind up in this film and do an excellent job in supporting Sandler. Detracting seriously from the film though is Winnona Ryder. Why on Earth she is still an actress boggles my mind. She plays her part horribly and just sounds so atrocious. Her, and the dips in comedic action pull this film down 2 stars. Overall though it could be worse, given everything it's not that bad. It's an enjoyable film that can be viewed a few times without the effect wearing off.

Good rebound for Sandler after the "Nicky" bomb
I'm not going to compare this movie (tho loosely based) to the 1936 classic with Gary Cooper, "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town". Sure, the basic storyline is the same, but that's it. Cooper & Sander are totally different actors in totally different times. Cooper was a classic actor with a flair for some comedy, where Sandler is a comedian with a flair for some acting. "Deeds" did fairly well at the box office in 2002. Sandler proved there was life after his previous bomb, "Little Nicky". A great cast with Winona Ryder, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro - stealing the show with his "sneaky" one liners and his incurable foot fetish. You'll recognize some supporting cast members from some of Sandler's previous flicks ("Wedding Singer, "Big Daddy", etc). Tho on the short side of today's movie standards (approx 90 minutes), this film is enjoyable on all levels. Sandler is more of the naive bumbling comedian here (remniscent of his role in "Wedding Singer"), rather than relying on gross humor geered toward the older adolescent male movie watchers. Included on this DVD are the standard feature length commentaries, outtakes & deleted scenes, and miscellanious featurettes. For those Sandler fans, I put this one behind the classics "The Wedding Singer" and "Happy Gilmore"... but well above "The Waterboy", "Big Daddy" and "Little Nicky".

What the.........!?
Here's something you don't see everyday: an expectation that a movie will be good based on who stars in it being completely shafted. Actually, I get that feeling quite a bit, but never like this. Adam has been in some great movies (Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and, despite what everyone else seems to say about it, I loved Little Nicky). However, this movie is complete garbage, and those responsible for this Godforsaken piece of crap should be burned at the stake. I guess this was supposed to be based on an earlier version of this movie (Mr. Deeds goes to town or whatever), and I hope to God that movie is at least 100X better than this waste of space.

Let me get right to the point. This movie tanked from start to finish. Few movies have accomplished this, but this one does so as if doing so is a no-brainer. What I remember of the beginning is lame and boring, the freaks that Adam hangs around must have some sort of mental retardation (if you've seen the movie, you know I'm not talking about stupidity that is funny, but just plain retardation that sucks), and H-O-L-Y CRAP Winona Rider is in the movie; nuff said! The best part of the moive (and I say best only to emphasize how bad this movie is) is when Rider's character kicks the overweight pizza store manager in the crotch, and she says "What are you kickin there for? I ain't got no b*lls!" Geeeezzzzz.......I couldn't even try to laugh at this nonsense; what was Adam thinking? By the way, Adam is very mellow in this movie (except for a couple of scenes where he beats someone up, but it's not even near funny this time), just like in Waterboy, but without the lousy accent (thank God!). He writes poems for greeting cards for Christ's sake!!! How much more of a loser can you be? I guess he's trying to model himself after Jason Biggs (which is about as low as you can go). Just get me a gun so I can put this movie and myself out of our misery!

It's not what you got in the bank.....
Adam Sandler in another formula feel-good romantic comedy. As a simple guy in a New England Hicks-Town, Sandler is loved all the towns-folk for his cheerful disposition and his magical way of always wanting to help people out. When he is snatched away from his little piece of Paradise to accept a 40 billion dollar inheritance from a media tycoon in NYC, a snowball-effect of events starts to roll.

Vaguely similar to Steve Martin's "The Jerk", but sadly quite predictable and far fetched. Many side-gags for pop-culture buffs are included. The best one's are a take on "Mr. French" and references to the Sunday Funny Papers. The frequent "appearing/disappearing act" of the butler character at first is spooky, but works well with the surprise at the end. The final scene (I won't give it away) is a cute way of showing how much Deeds wants to help out the little people. Some of the "cut scenes" are hilarious, although some (like the pizza delivery) are a bit risque. Otherwise, this is safe bet for all ages. A very pleasant film.****

Ratings Comparisons
The original Mr. Deeds Goes to Town was given a three and a half out of four star rating on cable, but this version was only given one star.

This of course does not surprise me. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If you're not a sucker for fact-based stories involving ostracized little boys, struggling single dads, precocious chimps, or space exploration, switch on Race to Space. James Woods stars as the 1960s rocket scientist the U.S. is counting on in its race to catch up with the space-savvy Russians; because he's German, a cluster of corrupt politicians cooks up a plan to sabotage his launch, which would send Mac, the chimp who's become his misfit son's special buddy, into space. Race feels formulaic from the liftoff, but the winch tightening translates to the family room without turning wimpy. Once the movie reaches its final frontier, all reservations have been scrubbed. It's one small step for movie-making kind, one giant leap for family entertainment. --Tammy La Gorce ... Read more

Reviews (3)

All in all, a great family film!
The movie Race to Space is a wonderful, heart touching movie, starring Alex D. Linz and James Woods. Now these two actors are so extremly good, that no matter what the movie was if they were in it, it would be entertaining. These movie was extremly entertaining and I will give it 5 STARS! Watch it!

Another masterpiece
See, the thing is...I am a huge Alex Linz fan. I watch all of his movies and I think he is an awsome actor. This movie is just excellent. The movies he is in are just so good (im not saying this just because i am in love with him lol) and i think this is one of his best. The plot is realistica and reasonable, yet a great kiddie movie (i would know cuz im 13). I went to see this at the movie theater and after the movie was over, i stood up and applauded, and that was the first time i felt that it was neccesary to do so. Everyone else did the same and, enough babbling, there is just one thing to say, THIS MOVIE IS AWSOME! Hope you enjoy it!!!

Finally - a family movie done _right_.
Okay, so this is one of those A-Boy-And-His-Dog/Cat/Horse/Space Alien type movies. (In this case, the mammal in question is Mac the chimp, the first US critter to make it up in space.) So, some of the plot details are gonna be a given: the boy, Billy, and Mac form a deep bond almost instantaneously; the boy's father, a German scientist now working for NASA, is distant and removed from him; the bad guy government agent is willing to do anything to stop the rocket launch from succeeding, even if it will hurt Mac.

So, okay. A few overly-used plot conventions. But what movie _doesn't_ have overly-used plot conventions? And this remains one of the very, very few family movies I've seen done _right_. The boy, Billy, gets to help both the training of Mac and will later "save the day" - but we have no annoying, attempting-to-be-humorous scenes of Billy brillantly thwarting the sunglasses-wearing evil agents of Doom. Nor does he get free reign around NASA to do whatever he wants. His father - brillantly portrayed by James Woods, who does a surprisingly excellent German accent - is not a horrible father who cares more about his work than his son; he's a normal enough guy who still misses his wife who died three years ago and is trying, _really_ trying, to do the right thing by his son. The movie is moved along with decent speed, having more than its fair share of amusing moments ("Why do you people continually try to kill my son?") without losing the realism tone.

And best of all: the ending. *WARNING: SPOILER ALERT AHEAD!* Billy's father does _not_ fall madly in love with the beautiful doctor and trainer of Mac, to be followed by marriage and a once-again perfectly nuclear family for Billy. Nope. Billy finds a mother figure again in Mac's vet, but Billy's father ain't over his wife yet, and there is no corny, unrealistic romance between the two good doctors. Real life doesn't _work_ that way all the time; and it was nice to be reminded that you can have a happy ending without Daddy getting re-married. It would have totally ruined the mood of the film, not to mention Woods' character, to do something so artifical. And they didn't, and it worked. *END SPOILER ALERT*.

This was a really well-done family movie that I recommend to any James Woods fan; but also to anyone looking for well-done, well-written entertainment the _whole_ family can enjoy. Rarely corny and always down-to-earth, this is a good movie. If you get a chance to see it in your area - see it. You won't be disappointed. ... Read more