2002 (the year Jenna Ortega was born) was a great year for films. My favorites from that year are listed below. Maybe someday, I’ll write a Top 24 ranking my picks in a future editorial.
- Insomnia
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Chicago
- Punch-Drunk Love
- Spirited Away
- 25th Hour
- Catch Me If You Can
- Spider-Man
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- The Bourne Identity
- Minority Report
- Red Dragon
- Big Fat Liar
- Blade II
- 8 Mile
- Trapped
- Hey Arnold: The Movie
- The Wild Thornberrys Movie
- Panic Room
- The Sum of All Fears
- The Transporter
- Gangs of New York
- Austin Powers in Goldmember
- The Powerpuff Girls Movie
- Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams
- Treasure Planet
- Road to Perdition
One movie in particular came out the same year as Adam Sandler’s first dramatic film “Punch-Drunk Love and one of my guilty pleasures to watch during Christmas, “Eight Crazy Nights.” It’s a remake of a Gary Cooper film (I never saw the original) known as “Mr. Deeds.” The remake earned negative reviews from critics. However, it made enough revenue at the box office. 2002 was a big year for Adam. His latest movie “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” is now streaming on Netflix. Winona Ryder will reprise her roles in Stranger Things’ final season and Beetlejuice 2.” I wanna share my thoughts on Mr. Deeds if it’s as bad as critics say.
This review contains no SPOILERS. I’m giving some of you a chance to see this gem.
Rich & Poor Qualities
Rich: Adam Sandler did a funny as heck job for his performance as the titular character.
Other Cast Members such as Winona Ryder, John Turturro, Jared Harris, Allen Covert, Steve Buscemi & Peter Gallagher all did a good job for their respective performances.
Humor managed to crack me up.
Chemistry between Deeds & Babe serves as the main highlight. I’m shocked they have a better connection than Anakin & Padme in “Attack of the Clones.”
Deeds refers to a paparazzi escaping on a parachute as James Bond. “Die Another Day” came out five months later.
Deeds climbs on a burning building to save a woman and her cats. Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” also saved a person from a burning building too. Both movies are distributed by Sony.
Rob Schneider makes a cameo reprising his role as the delivery guy from “Big Daddy.” Happy Madison is one of the earliest cinematic universes before Marvel.
I forgot J.B. Smoove (Leon from Curb Your Enthusiasm) was in Mr. Deeds as a staff worker.
At one point, Crazy Eyes mentioned, “I thought we were watching Scooby-Doo?” A live-action movie from 2002 was released two weeks before Mr. Deeds. By the way, Sabrina the Teenage Witch features a crossover with Scooby and Shaggy to promote “What’s New Scooby-Doo?” Don’t believe me? Look up the episode, “Sabrina Unplugged.”
John McEnroe and Al Sharpton make cameo appearances.
Allen Covert’s character pretends to be a little boy. He sounds like Whitey from Eight Crazy Nights.
Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” is played in the background when Deeds wakes up in his new home. Weezer’s song was also used on an episode of “The Sopranos. “Everybody Hurts.”
Two kids at Babe’s “childhood home” kinda look like the kid from “Jerry Maguire.” Speaking of which, Jonathn Lipnicki was in “Stuart Little 2” & “Like Mike.” That’s the last time we saw him. The closest thing for his latest appearance is an episode of “Family Guy” titled, “Welcome, Back Carter.”
Mac McGrath’s the J. Jonah Jameson of this movie. He slanders and manipulates footage of Deeds by making him look like a moron. Mac’s also a satirical depiction of Fox News & MSNBC. For a movie from 2002, it’s shockingly relevant.
A Plot Twist towards the end. 100% legit than M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs.”
Poor: Product Placement featuring brands such as Pepsi, Wendy’s, Cocoa Pebbles, Chevrolet, Budweiser, JVC & Oreos.
Pete Townshed’s “Let My Love Open the Door” plays during the End Credits. That song’s been used way too many times in rom-coms and non-rom-coms listed below. I think it’s time for it to retire in favor of underused songs like Green Day’s “Good Riddance.”
- Look Who’s Talking
- Jerry Maguire (trailer only)
- Grosse Pointe Blank
- Along Came Polly
- Jersey Girl
- Old Dogs
- Dan in Real Life
- How Do You Know (trailer only)
- Hit and Run
- Stronger
- The Adam Project
The Final Verdict: B, FOR BRIGHTNESS!
Unlike stinkers Happy Madison produced “The Master of Disguise” and The Hot Chick” without Adam Sandler as the lead star, Mr. Deeds is a top-tier movie along with Eight Crazy Nights and Punch-Drunk Love. As a kid, I liked Mr. Deeds. Now that I’m older, I still enjoy it. I still don’t get why critics hated it. Not horrendously bad like Dana Carvey & Rob Schneider’s movies mentioned above. Ignore the haters and give this gem a shot.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 