Stars:
Adam Sandler, Winona Ryder, Peter Gallagher, Jared Harris, Allen Covert, Erick
Avari, John Tuturro, Steve Buscemi, and Rob Schneider
Writer:
Tim Herlihy
Director:
Steven Brill
Feature
length: 97 minutes
Extras:
Director and Writer’s Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, Outtakes Reel,
Deed’s Greeting Cards, Music Video, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French Language Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Regardless
of how one might feel about Adam Sandler and his films, there is no denying that
he has a fan base and there are people who love his comedies because “Mr.
Deeds” was another box office hit for the SNL alumnus. I can take or leave his
films personally, but I am definitely not a fan. However I wanted to check this
comedy on DVD out since it was a successful summer feature and I hoped that
maybe I would enjoy it. “Mr. Deeds” is better than some of Sandler’s other
comedies and definitely one with more heart, but after awhile it gets so
saccharine that half way through the film I wanted to shut my DVD player off and
yet I have no doubt that there are people out there who will enjoy this comedy,
which is more family friendly while still appealing to Sandler’s core
audience.
Columbia
TriStar has released “Mr. Deeds” to DVD-Video as a special edition available
on both widescreen and full screen versions sold separately and with identical
special features. The widescreen edition presents “Mr. Deeds” in an
anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio with a choice of English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound or French Language Surround Sound. The soundtrack is
crisp and clear and has a high fidelity to it while the picture quality is quite
good and free of any blemishes. English Captions and Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired and French Language Subtitles are encoded on to the DVD as
options as well. Director Steven Brill and Tim Herlihy deliver a screen specific
and introspective feature length audio commentary that discusses the updating of
the film to reflect what has and has not changed and give the entire cast a
chance to shine. Roles like John Tuturro’s steal the scenes he appears in even
from Sandler and the expected cameo by Rob Schneider is in the film along with a
cameo by Steve Buscemi.
Extra
features include six deleted scenes presented in a letterboxed (1.85:1) aspect
ratio, but with significantly less picture quality than the finished feature.
The deleted scenes can be viewed individually or as one reel and are made up of
“Fake Cop Hat” (: 29), “The Nubster” (: 50), “Telling Jokes” (: 23),
“Under The Cherry Tree” (: 44), “Fake Astronaut” (: 22), and “Enjoy
Your Pizza” (: 21). The scenes are so short and insignificant that one wonders
why they were even included at all on this DVD.
There
are three featurettes as well comprised of “From Mandrake Falls To
Manhattan” (18:21), which goes into how the remake of “Mr. Deeds Goes To
Town” came to be with Adam Sandler. “Spare No Expense” (6:30) is a
production design featurette while “Clothes Make The Man” (6:45) is a
costume design featurette. All three featurettes feature a mix of filmed and
videotaped (1.33:1) and (1.85:1) behind-the-scenes footage and stills.
Other
extras include a (1.33:1) stereo music video by Dave Matthews Band for “Where
Are You Going” (4:02), which features scenes from the film intercut into the
video and there is an outtakes reel (1:44) and select filmographies as well as
the “Mr. Deeds” greetings cards for “Easter,” “St. Patrick’s Day,”
“St Valentine’s Day # 1 & 2,”and
“Passover # 1 & 2,” featuring Adam Sandler’s voice-over. There
is a web link with access to more “Mr. Deeds E-Cards” as well as Adam
Sandler’s official website and the “Mr. Deeds” movie website too. The URLS
are present on the discs as well so one can just write them down and access the
sites online in case they do not have a PC with a DVD-ROM drive.
Theatrical
trailers for “Mr. Deeds” (1:51), the animated “Adam Sandler’s 8 Crazy
Nights” (1:21), “Master Of Disguise” (2:26), “Men In Black II” (2:09),
and “I Spy”(2:28) are presented in anamorphic widescreen with a full English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound for all but “Adam Sandler’s 8 Crazy
Nights” and wrap up the extra features on this special edition DVD. The menus
feature animated transitions to standard interactive still frame menus as well
as full motion scene selections and all of the interactive menus are easy to
navigate.
“Mr.
Deeds: Widescreen Special Edition” is available on DVD-Video now with the full
screen counterpart available too, but sold separately from Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.