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Sandler goes to town
Mr Deeds might be poised for a good opening
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Arthur J Pais
Adam Sandler never got much respect from the critics, but who cares for respect when fans adore you? His Big Daddy, for instance, grossed about $250 million worldwide.
But his reputation as a box-office guarantor suffered considerably when Little Nicky, for which he was paid $20 million, lost over $60 million, hastening the exit of several executives at New Lines which had produced the movie. Mr Deeds was in the works when Nicky was released last year. Both films were directed by Steve Brill.
Now, Sandler plays the title role in Mr Deeds, a remake of the 1936 Frank Capra classic, Mr Deeds Goes To Town. The movie designed as a feel good project has received mostly negative reviews, with one reviewer slamming it as a Bad Deeds movie and another summing it up as Mis-Deeds.
In three days, we will know if the audiences will ignore the critics and embrace the movie. They may decide to go with one of the few reviewers who liked the film. Connie Ogle of Miami Herald called it 'surprisingly sweet and, dare we say it, old-fashioned, with an engaging sense of humour.'
The new movie is 'a definite improvement on lame, lowbrow efforts such as Little Nicky,' she added. But that is not saying much.
For Mr Deeds makes one wonder why filmmakers go for remakes even though they know most remakes not only fail to measure up to the original, they often fail to impress an audience who has not seen the original.
Look at the remade Lolita, which lost about $80 million two years ago.
Capra's theme of common man in a big, corrupt world is as relevant today as it was over 60 years ago but Brill fails to give the film a focus. Capra's populist comedy was made when America was still reeling under the Great Depression. Brill has failed to set the film in a meaningful modern context.
Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds, a good-hearted bumpkin who is roused from his country life and running of a pizzeria in a small New Hampshire town and is brought to New York to claim a dead uncles fortune ($40 billion in this movie, $20 million in the original). He soon faces a raft of corporate raiders, snobbish social climbers and a heartless media.
But his life suddenly begins to change when a highly ambitious reporter (Winona Ryder) gives up on ridiculing him on air and falls in love with him, setting in motion seemingly hilarious and dramatic events.
The movie's most awkward moments arise when it takes itself a bit seriously --- which is so often --- like when Deeds gives a speech celebrating the values he had grown up with. Even if you have not seen Gary Cooper's utterly convincing performance in the original, you may feel Sandler is, like the movie itself, inadequate.
Mr Deeds Goes To Town is a perennial hit on television. I have a sneaking suspicion many younger fans are watching it, too.
And yet, there are many who believe that the Sandler movie will have a very good opening, unlike Little Nicky. Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com is convinced it will make at least $45 million in its first week, leading to a profitable if not a blockbuster run.
The master filmmaker that he was, Capra engaged us in idealism and matters of heart and soul. His movies also packed in sharp politics, convincing romance, and believable romanticism, not to forget terrific ensemble acting and humour.
But as Pandya suspects that there could be millions of people out there in America who will be satisfied with Sandler and Brill's version of romanticism and idealism.