| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
by Steven (movies profile)
Apr 15, 2007
2
of
2 people found this review helpful
"Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" is one Cappra's best films ever. The story is about a small town poet named Longfellow Deeds, residing in Mandrake Falls, who inherits twenty million dollars from his rich uncle after he dies. However, when Deeds goes to New York to collect his inheritance and use it to help the needy, he soon finds himself a victim of modern society with every rich mongrul trying to take advantage of him from lawyers to phony relatives. Babe Bennet, played by Jean Arthur, is a newsreporter who pretends to get close to Deeds to cover his exploits, but she soon finds herself falling for the labeled "Cinderella Man." Frank Capra's direction in this film is very powerful and makes up for some of the scripts minor flaws. The chemistry between Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper was genuine while dishing out intelligent humor; a quality lacking in many of today's modern romantic comedies. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I first saw this film, but anyone who sees this won't be disappointed. "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" is a masterpiece in film history.
Gary Cooper's performance was truly breathtaking as was the rest of the cast. Gary Cooper plays an all around nice small town guy, Longfellow Deeds, who inherits twenty million dollars. However, he soon realizes that it's not easy handling that kind of money when you have everyone wanting to take it from you. Gary Cooper did a great job playing this role without the cheesiness of its remake. He basically played a common man that we can all identify that likes to help people. Gary Cooper definitely deserved the Academy Award for this film. However, it was also the film's chemistry between Jean and Gary that was great too.
Jean Arthur did a great job in this movie. She played a very convincing role as Babe Bennet a.k.a. Sarah Dawson. It was surprising to learn that she wasn't nominated for this, but her performance in this film is still nothing short of spectacular.
However, the film's story does suffer from some minor flaws, but it's still a great script. The film is predictable, and some of the situations, in the film, is a tad silly like the court room scene where Deeds points out everyone's character flaws. That doesn't mean the script sucks in anyway. The script is written very tastefully, and the dialogue is witty with great scenes like when Deeds is debating with the opera house over why he should invest money into it. Thankfully, Cappra's direction in this film covers up these flaws quite well.
Cappra manages to direct a truly comedic yet romantically sound film by creating a story in which the viewer feels involved with the characters. One moment, the viewer finds him/her crying at Deeds broken heart when he finds out the truth about Ms. Dawson, yet happy and laughing at the heart felt ending. The Cappra-esque style creates so many memorable moments in this film that shouldn't be ignored.
"Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" is one of Cappra's best films. With great acting performances by Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, this film is an instant classic. Frank Cappra's direction is simply brilliant in this film while working with a solid screenplay. Overall, this film is a masterpiece. |
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