Add some Billy Madison (rich kid versus conniving executive), a pinch of Happy Gilmore (anger management problems), a little bit of the Wedding Singer (romance with famous actress), remove the humor, and you have Mr. Deeds. Winona Ryder’s character talks about ironic detachment in this movie, which is interesting because she derides her materialistic boss (a theme throughout the movie), while her real life persona was caught shoplifting at an upscale Beverly Hills store.

Adam Sandler is Longfellow Deeds, a pizzeria owner in a small town in New Hampshire who happens to be the closest living heir to a fortune left behind by media mogul Preston Blake. Of course the number two guy at the company, Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher), plans to sell the company once Deeds is out of the picture. Winona Ryder plays Babe Bennett, a tabloid reporter who claims to be a school nurse, and from a small town in order to write a story on Deeds and keep her job. She secretly films Deeds's misdeeds, including a druken night with John McEnroe playing himself, which are then shown on the tabloid show "Inside Access," anchored and run by her slimy boss, Mark McGrath (Jared Harris).

“Winona Ryder, you are hereby sentenced to one crappy Adam Sandler movie.” Was this indeed her judgement? Poor Winona Ryder, the soon to be convicted theif, who ironically (again), meets Deeds when he foils an attempted purse snatcher. She is one of my favorite young actresses, and we all make mistakes. I have taken a few (cheap?) shots at her, but I truly hope she returns to form, showing her talent as she did in Dracula, Edward Scissorhands, and Heathers, among others.

The movies that I mentioned at first had their moments, especially the Wedding Singer. But would you really want to see Billy Madison 5: The Return of Happy Gilmore? Its amusing at first, but its like a horror movie that has grown tiresome and become comical. Mr. Deeds is the opposite, a tired Sandler comedy that has become scary because its boring. The only good part of the movie was John Turturro (who is always excellent) as Deed’s butler Emilio “I hail from Spain.” Emilio has a talent for appearing out of nowhere “you underestimate my sneakiness”, and a bizarre foot fetish. Every scene in this movie that he is in, as a whole, would make a legitimate comedy. Why? Because he is FUNNY, unlike the rest of the movie.

Rating: *1/2