Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Laughs Make Deeds Sandler's Own

Anyone who tries to compare Adam Sandler's new film with the Gary Cooper classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town should think twice. Suggesting that Sandler doesn't stay true to the spirit of a Frank Capra film is like complaining that a junior high band seems out of tune. One expects it, and complaining isn't going to make it better.

So, Sandler cribbed the idea for his latest movie from some old Gary Cooper flick. So what? For my money, the idea wasn't that original to begin with. Small town man gets a large inheritance and must go to the big city to claim it. Along the way, the big city folk treat him bad. This isn't exactly Shakespeare. But Sandler does make the story his own with the assortment of strange characters and stupid humor that has become his trademark.

Sandler plays Longfellow Deeds (just "Deeds" to his friends), a pizza restaurateur and greeting card writer wannabe, who finds himself the heir to a $40 billion media empire after his great-uncle Preston Blake dies without a will. The greedy CEO, Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher), wants Deeds to return to New York City so they can draw up the papers that will allow Cedar and his cronies to buy Deeds' share of the empire. Naturally, Deeds finds the big city very different from Mandrake Falls and tries to share some of his homespun goodness with the city folk.

John Turturro plays a "sneaky" butler named Emilio who served the Blake family for years and now befriends the down-to-earth Deeds. Turturro's performance is a riot, and he shines even amid the other strange characters. Of course, what would an Adam Sandler movie be without a cameo by Steve Buscemi? This time around he plays "Crazy Eyes" a strange man in Deeds' home town. Finally, Winona Ryder plays a reporter trying to get the scoop on the heir to the Blake fortune. Ryder is passable as a love interest, but she's hard to believe as a femme fatale.

Sandler plays the hero with a sublime innocence masquerading a bottled up anger. When at peace, he's like some dopey Good Samaritan, but when push comes to shove he unleashes a fury that is as funny as it is effective. The jokes in Mr. Deeds range from slapstick to quirky. If you enjoyed Sandler's other ventures, you'll probably get a laugh out of seeing him as Deeds.

I'm not saying it's great; it's just Adam Sandler.

MY RATING: 5 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 91 min.