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"MR. DEEDS"
(2002) (Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder) (PG-13)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Moderate Mild Heavy Mild None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Heavy None Minor Minor Moderate
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Moderate Mild Minor Mild *Moderate


QUICK TAKE:
Comedy: An unassuming, small town man finds that fame and fortune don't make life better after he inherits $40 billion.
PLOT:
Longfellow Deeds (ADAM SANDLER) is an unassuming pizzeria owner in the little town of Mandrake Falls where he gets along with everyone, including his workers, Murph (PETER DANTE) and Jan (CONCHATA FERRELL), and customers such as Crazy Eyes (STEVE BUSCEMI), a bug-eyed sort with a penchant for odd pizza topping combinations. Always taking the time to say hello or help out those in need, Deeds' big dream in life is that one day, Hallmark will buy one of his greeting card poems.

While waiting for that to happen, Deeds gets a visit from Chuck Cedar (PETER GALLAGHER) and Cecil Anderson (ERICK AVARI), the CEO and legal counsel of Blake Media respectively. It seems that Deeds is the only living heir to owner Preston Blake (HARVE PRESNELL) who recently passed away and left 49% of his company - roughly worth $40 billion - to him.

Soon, Deeds travels to Manhattan to oversee his inheritance and meets Emilio Lopez (JOHN TURTURRO), his late great uncle's butler. He also meets small town school nurse Pam Dawson (WINONA RYDER), completely unaware that she's really TV producer Babe Bennett.

She's working undercover for a tabloid TV program called "Inside Access" and her sleazy boss and host of the program, Mac McGrath (JARED HARRIS), wants her and fellow worker Marty (ALLEN COVERT) to beat out the rest of the media swarm and get the inside scoop on Deeds.

As Deeds inevitably begins falling for Babe who begins to have second thoughts about her ruse when she sees that he's the real deal, he doesn't notice that Cedar is plotting to wrest control of the company from him. From that point on, Deeds must decide whether fame and fortune are worth the price of his integrity and better sense.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Those who are fans of Sandler and his goofy style of comedy probably will, as might anyone who's a fan of anyone else in the cast.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13
For language including sexual references, and some rear nudity.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • ADAM SANDLER plays a small town pizzeria owner who finds his life turned upside down when he inherits $40 billion. Even so, he maintains his unassuming ways while falling for Babe. Despite his otherwise polite demeanor, he occasionally responds to certain situations by punching people.
  • WINONA RYDER plays a producer who pretends to be someone else in order to get inside Deeds world and get the scoop on him. She starts to fall for him, however, and begins to have reservations about her ruse.
  • JOHN TURTURRO plays Deeds' Spanish butler who has a knack for zipping around from place to place.
  • ALLEN COVERT plays Babe's co-worker who uses some profanity and eventually decides to undermine Babe's undercover plan regarding Deeds.
  • PETER GALLAGHER plays the CEO of the company that Deeds now runs who wants to buy out Deeds so that he had complete control.
  • ERICK AVARI plays his associate, the legal counsel for the company who carries around a pipe, but never smokes it.
  • JARED HARRIS plays the seedy host and producer of a tabloid TV show who wants Babe to dig up all of the dirt on Deeds that she can find.
  • PETER DANTE plays one of Deeds' lazy workers at his pizzeria.
  • CONCHATA FERRELL plays Deeds' waitress back in Mandrake Falls.
  • STEVE BUSCEMI plays an odd man in Deeds' hometown with bug-eyes and a penchant for odd pizza combinations.
  • JOHN McENROE plays himself, a former tennis pro who shows Deeds the "real" NY by taking him out drinking and egging cars at night.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a quick look at the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of a bleeped out "f" word, along with many "s" words and other expletives. Various colorful phrases are uttered, as is some sexually related dialogue. A woman's cleavage and a man's bare butt (covered in soap suds) are seen, while a non-sexual positioning of bodies is turned into a brief sexual joke.

    Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while all sorts of material might be enticing for some impressionable kids to imitate. Some mild gross-out style material is also present, while a few scenes could be suspenseful to viewers sensitive to the particular subject matter at hand (including a child choking and a woman near drowning under a frozen lake).

    Various characters smoke and/or drink (with the protagonist waking up with a hangover after a night of drinking), a drug reference is made, and comedic violence includes various scenes of people getting into fights and/or being struck by various objects.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Murph and the local sheriff have beer in Deeds Pizza.
  • A greeting card poem mentions going some place and drinking all of the beers.
  • Murph tells Deeds about his trip to New York, "Bring your rich butt back here and buy us a shot."
  • Chuck mockingly asks Cecil, "What have you got in that pipe? Hashish?"
  • Deeds mentions his friends whacking his numb foot when he's "wasted."
  • Deeds and Babe have wine in a restaurant where others also drink.
  • John McEnroe shows up with a beer and offers to show Deeds and Pam (Babe) the real city. The next morning, Deeds wakes up with quite a hangover (saying he thinks he drank all of the alcohol in Manhattan). A comment is then made about usually not dreaming when one gets "black out" drunk. We then see a flashback to them with some beer.
  • A guy drinks a beer.
  • Some people drink.
  • Deeds reads a poem that includes the line, "I'll bring the beers."
  • Babe drinks a beer.
  • Babe has a drink in a bar where others also drink.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • On two occasions, we see the same dead and frozen body (but beyond being that, it's not bloody or gory). In the second one, Deeds forces the body back into the casket and we hear various cracking sounds (of the body).
  • A comment is made about a man having a spastic colon and that man then replies, "That would explain a lot."
  • Deeds mentions having frostbite from the past and we see his blackened foot.
  • A man has a tiny bit of a bloody lip after being punched.
  • Marty jokes like a child and says that he has "too much doo-doo in my underpants."
  • An older man shows Deeds and Babe his kneecap that he can wiggle around on his leg (the site of that might be gross/unsettling to some viewers).
  • Marty has a black eye from where he was hit.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Murph admits to lying about calling in sick to work.
  • A mad football player has a bad and disrespectful attitude.
  • McGrath, Marty and Babe conspire to set up Deeds so that Babe can get the scoop on him by pretending to be a small town girl. She then lies to him about most everything.
  • Some rich and/or famous socialites make fun of Deeds.
  • Chuck has a bad attitude toward Deeds and Emilio (insulting the latter with a derogatory term about being Puerto Rican when he's Spanish).
  • Viewers sensitive to violence against animals might not like a comedy scene where Deeds, working as a volunteer firefighter, throws a woman's various cats out the window several stories above the street (without watching what he's doing). This includes them falling and bouncing off a trampoline and being caught by others or a dog in one instance, while another has a cat engulfed in flames that's dropped out, hits the trampoline and bounces into some water, extinguishing the flames (none of the cats appear worse for the wear after all of that).
  • McGrath edits some footage of Deeds being a hero to make him look like a cad and sexual pervert.
  • Marty conspires against Babe.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • While played for part of a laugh, a scene featuring a child choking for a few moments might be unsettling for those sensitive to such material.
  • Babe falls through the ice of a frozen lake, struggles for a moment and then sinks below the surface. Deeds, after pausing and believing she's faking it, then sets out to save her.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "You're a f*cking disgrace" (with the "f" word part bleeped out), "Bullsh*t," "Shit no," "Oh, sh*t," "I think I just shat myself," "Holy sh*t," "You've got to be sh*tting me," "Dipsh*t," "It's your ass," "What a wisenheimer," "Keep it in your pants," "Smell you later," "Bring your rich butt back here and buy us a shot," "Hick ass," "Where the hell is Babe?" "Pissed," "That/this sucks," "Jeez," "You're sick," "Fat bitch asses," "Shut the hell up," an incomplete "You can just suck my..." "What's up, Chuck?" "My bad," "Moron," "Fat Puerto Rican ass," "(Don't be a) Sucker," "That was freaky," "How the hell does he climb like that?" "Jackass," "Hell, yeah," "You sick ass mo-fo," "What the hell are you doing in my chair?" "Little miss slut-slut," "Balls" (testicles), "Get your bony ass over here," "Kick our asses all over the place" and "Greedy ass."
  • Deeds mentions having frostbite from the past and we see his blackened foot. He then tells Emilio that he can't feel a thing and asks him to stomp down on his foot to prove that. Emilio does, and with no pained response from Deeds, he proceeds to start whacking it like crazy with the fireplace poker. He then jabs the poker down into the foot and Deeds screams out in pain, but then says that he's just kidding and can't feel anything (we do see, however, that it's impaled his foot).
  • Marty gives Babe "the finger" after Deeds beats him up.
  • Deeds and John McEnroe throw eggs at passing cars on a city street at night.
  • Emilio gives Chuck "the finger" while saying "Olé."
  • Deeds straddles a curvy handrail at the top of some stairs and then rides it down to the bottom where he crashes onto a table that collapses beneath him.
  • Deeds and Babe ride their bikes down some steps in a park.
  • Deeds climbs up a street pole and then jumps over to the side of a building to then climb inside a burning apartment.
  • Deeds, working as a volunteer firefighter, throws a woman's various cats out the window several stories above the street (without watching what he's doing). This includes them falling and bouncing off a trampoline and being caught by others or a dog in one instance, while another has a cat engulfed in flames that's dropped out, hits the trampoline and bounces into some water, extinguishing the flames (none of the cats appear worse for the wear after all of that). Later, however, McGrath edits footage of that to include "splat" sounds of the cats hitting the street below.
  • Jan cracks her knuckles and neck while preparing to fight Babe.
  • Babe knocks some water into Marty's face.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A bit of such music plays in a few scenes.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • A song has the lyric, "Let's get wasted."
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 1 bleeped out "f" word, 16 "s" words, 2 slang terms for breasts ("boobs"), 10 asses, 6 hells, 4 damns, 3 uses of "Oh God," 2 each of "My God," "Oh my God" and "Swear to God" and 1 use each of "God," "Oh Lord" and "Sweet Jesus" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • Babe shows cleavage in various outfits in various scenes. She also wears a shirt that looks somewhat transparent (and we can somewhat see the shape of her breasts and nipples beneath it in her bra)
  • A greeting card poem mentions "I promise to love you, even when your bosoms sag down to the floor."
  • After Cecil flirts with an older woman in Mandrake Falls, Chuck tells him, "Keep it in your pants."
  • Cecil mentions going to visit some of New York's "finest gentleman's clubs."
  • McGrath laughs when Babe says she's posing as a virgin to Deeds.
  • While trying to aim the camera hidden in her cleavage to capture views of Deeds entering a burning building, Babe tells a firefighter that fire "excites me."
  • Deeds jumps out of a burning apartment with a large woman and then lands on the ground with him inadvertently lying between her spread legs. McGrath then edits footage of that to make it come off like a sexual situation.
  • After Babe pulls a hidden camera out of her cleavage and discards it, Marty picks it up and smells it.
  • Deeds receives a message on his computer that he should "tap that" (have sex with Babe) before she starts seeing other guys.
  • We see Marty's bare butt when covered in suds as he talks to McGrath.
  • Babe briefly but passionately kisses Deeds.
  • After stating that stories like the ones they're making up about Deeds are what bring in the money, McGrath tells Babe that he's going to go home and squeeze his girlfriend's big, fake "boobs."
  • Jan refers to Babe as "Little miss slut-slut" and then mockingly imitates her saying, "I'm a dirty tramp."
  • At a stockholders meeting, various people admit to what they do and one says that he operates a pornographic website. Deeds states that makes people happy in a "grosser way." During this, Jan pipes up that she wanted to be a man and a man states that he wants to "tie myself naked to a chair and burn myself with a lit cigarette."
  • Babe reads a portion of Preston Blake's diary about his lust for the cleaning woman. In a flashback, we then see a young Preston grabbing the cleaning woman and kissing her neck (we then hear that she got pregnant from the rest of the unseen, subsequent encounter).
  • SMOKING
  • Cecil is seen with a pipe in several scenes but never smokes, while Crazy Eyes smokes a cigar a few times, and Murph, John McEnroe (cigar) and Deeds (cigar) each smoke once, while some miscellaneous people also smoke.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Emilio says he never knew his parents and adds that his mother died giving birth to him.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • What it would be like to inherit $40 billion.
  • People who try to take advantage of others.
  • Tabloid publications and the efforts they'll take to get the inside scoop on their subjects.
  • How the story's populist view doesn't work that well in today's society compared to when the first film was released.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Everything that's listed here is intended by the film as comedy.
  • We see that a man has frozen to death atop Mt. Everest.
  • Deeds mentions having frostbite from the past and we see his blackened foot. He then tells Emilio that he can't feel a thing and asks him to stomp down on his foot to prove that. Emilio does, and with no pained response from Deeds, he proceeds to start whacking it like crazy with the fireplace poker. He then jabs the poker down into the foot and Deeds screams out in pain, but then says that he's just kidding and can't feel anything (we do see, however, that it's impaled his foot).
  • Deeds punches a football player in the face, knocking him to the floor, to stop him from being disrespectful.
  • After Marty and Babe set it up to look like he's stealing her purse (to make Deeds meet Babe), Deeds chases after Marty, throws him into some trashcans and then hits him on the back with one. He then proceeds to kick Marty in the face and then repeatedly punches him in the face (all played for comedy).
  • After some rich and/or famous people make fun of him, Deeds suddenly goes after them, punching some, slamming another's head onto a table, and throws another crashing down onto a table.
  • We hear the sounds of a father whipping his adult son (a pro football player) with a belt.
  • Deeds straddles a curvy handrail at the top of some stairs and then rides it down to the bottom where he crashes onto a table that collapses beneath him.
  • While playing tennis, Deeds accidentally hits Chuck with the ball rather hard several times (in the head, chest and then neck), and also hits Marty who's undercover as the ball boy.
  • As Babe (posing as Pam, the school nurse) tries to get a child to stop choking, she eventually bashes his head onto a banister and accomplishes her goal (but also knocks out his tooth).
  • Some slapstick material involves Deeds trying to jump over a trashcan, but hitting it and falling to the sidewalk, as well as Crazy Eyes crashing a car into a tree (seen from a distance).
  • Jan tells Babe that if she can get by her in the pizza place, she'll tell her where Deeds is. Jan then clotheslines Babe and knocks her to the floor, prompting Babe to kick Jan in the crotch (with her replying, "Who are you kicking? I ain't got no balls, dummy"). Jan then grabs Babe, spins her around and throws her against a table. She then comes at Babe with a pizza cutter, but Babe throws some dough in Jan's face and then flies through the air, kicking Jan backwards.



  • Reviewed June 12, 2002 / Posted June 28, 2002

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