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While I hardly consider myself a Sandler fan, if I was a studio exec, why not exploit this kind of cash cow to the hilt and remake every now-obscure film into a Sandler comedy? Mr. Deeds is little more than a 'rethinking' of Frank Capra's classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and more or less sticks to the plot of the original. Longfellow Deeds is a distant relative of a billionaire media mogul who has left no will after perishing atop Mount Everest. So our small town pizzeria owner/hero becomes the sole heir to a vast fortune, quickly heading off to the big apple to finalize the deal. There he meets Winona Ryder, and if you've seen the trailer you already know the rest.

The cast is great and does the best it can with a thin script. John Turturro is very funny as Emilo, Deeds' butler; Peter Gallagher is a fantastic bad guy, and Erick Avari is, as usual, far more talented than the roles he gets. Then we have Ryder, who distracted me throughout the entire film as I found myself wondering how she'll fare in the clink. Recent controversy aside, she turns in a typical Ryder performance that -- arrested or not -- would have done little for her career longevity. Director Steven Brill steps it up a wee bit, but this is a silly, formulaic film that I still had a lot of fun with. Any Sandler fan will surely get a kick out of it, but fans of the original will probably imagine Capra turning over in his grave.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Columbia has put out a very nice 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer for Mr. Deeds (also available is a separate pan & scan version, eek!). While this is not a reference quality image, the presentation is very film-like with strong colors and fleshtones accurately reproduced. Blacks are, for the most part, very rich and true with only the occasional scene lacking a little depth. There are very minor edge enhancement halos, but they were never distracting and otherwise quite a relief. This film being just a few months old, the source print is in fine condition with no blemishes to be seen, resulting in excellent detail. The compression is well done as I didn't notice any artifacts. A fine looking disc.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

I never expected Mr. Deeds to blow me away, but this 448 kbps 5.1 Dolby Digital mix is utilitarian at best. The soundtrack benefits from pleasant dynamic range, with the majority of the mix localized to the front three channels. The front sound stage is well balanced and dialogue firmly centered. The rears are hardly utilized at all except for a rather artificial 'echo' effect in a few scenes, so while it is nice that a comedic track tries to take advantage of the surrounds at all, the mere shock of its presence almost detracts from the mix. The LFE is all but silent. A serviceable presentation, but certainly nothing to write home about.

There is also a French Dolby 2.0 surround mix included, along with English and French subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Grossing over $100 million at the domestic box office, Columbia offers up a fair amount of extras here. There may be a ton of 'em to look at, but most run very short.

First up is the screen-specific audio commentary with director Steven Bail and writer Tim Herlihy. This track is a lot more interesting than one might think an Adam Sandler flick would warrant, as the pair are mighty informative and entertaining, covering just about all the bases. It isn't revolutionary, but a definite listen for fans of the film.

Next up is the deleted scene section, with six cuts included in mono and non-anamorphic widescreen. All six are ultra short and entirely skippable. There are three featurettes included. "From Mandrake Falls to Manhattan" (18 mins) contains lots of talk from the actors as well as comparisons to the original Capra classic. One might consider this one to be a "making of" and it's not bad, just nothing exceptional. Next is "Spare No Expense" (6 min) which is just a quick look at the production design but much more interesting than the making of. Finally, we have "Clothes Make the Man" (7 min), which will likely only appeal to those with a major interest in the subject. Everyone else, steer clear.

Also included: the Dave Matthews Band "Where Are You Going" music video, presented in full screen and Dolby 2.0 surround. Next is an outtake reel that runs for barely a minute and a half. There are a couple of funny bits, but not nearly as many as one would hope for from a Sandler comedy. Filmographies provide pithy info and film credits for the director, writer and main cast. Then we have the trailer gallery, which features anamorphic transfers for the following: Mr. Deeds, 8 Crazy Nights, Master of Disguise, Men in Black II and I Spy. The last extra is something called Deeds Greeting Cards. Here, Sandler reads six different "poetic" seasonal greetings. Amusing.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Somewhat unusual for a Columbia title these days, Mr. Deeds has a fair number of ROM extras included. A simple but easy- to-use custom interface offers basic DVD controls and embedded weblinks to the film's original theatrical website and the Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and AdamSandler.com destinations.

The only true ROM extra is the script-to-screen feature, with the film's entire screenplay accessible on its own or with direct scene access. You can also print out all or chapters of the screenplay, making it easy to use and effective. There are also some Mr. Deeds greeting cards just as on the DVD-Video portion. Not massive extras, but the script feature is a standout.

Parting Thoughts