Adam Sandler has had a lot of hits and plenty of misses – one movie that falls into the latter camp is climbing the Netflix chart, despite its shocking Rotten Tomatoes score.
Among the actor’s best movies are his more serious turns such as Uncut Gems and Punch-Drunk Love, but Sandler is best known in the comedy world, pumping out plenty of classics in the ‘90s and ‘00s.
Happy Gilmore is still one of the best sports movies ever, and let’s not forget The Wedding Singer and even Little Nicky.
However, one that is pretty easy to forget is Mr. Deeds, Steven Brill’s 2002 film in which Sandler stars as Longfellow Deeds, a small-town man who inherits a massive fortune and must navigate the challenges of wealth, love, and corporate greed.
Think Blank Check and Brewster’s Millions only not as good, and not with anywhere near as much sincerity as the 1936 flick it’s based on, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
Many agree with this hypothesis, as Mr. Deeds only earned 22% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, as well as an average 59% score from the audience.
But as we often see with easy-watching movies that have big names in the title (Sandler stars alongside Winona Ryder), Mr. Deeds is enjoying a new life on Netflix.
After dropping on the streaming service this August, it’s reached ninth place on the top 10 movies chart in the US. You can find the full list as it currently stands below:
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- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
- Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
- Jack Reacher
- The Emoji Movie
- Trolls Band Together
- White Chicks
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Lorax
- Mr. Deeds
- Inside the Mind of a Dog
As for what critics said about it at the time, Roger Ebert himself wrote, “Frank Capra played this story straight. But the 2002 film doesn’t really believe in it, and breaks the mood with absurdly inappropriate ‘comedy’ scenes.”
Time Out didn’t hold back, stating, “The star and his numbskull cronies piss on Capra’s grave with acrid insincerity.” Yikes.
In Mr. Deeds’ defense, while it’s not a patch on the original, there’s no denying it’s easy escapism, with a number of reviews reflecting this sentiment.
As IGN said, “While I’m not going to sit here and try and make you believe that Deeds is a good movie or even a decent remake of Frank Capra’s classic film of the same name, I will say this: it doesn’t suck.”
Feedback from viewers at home is equally mixed. On one side of the fence is the following, “I mean comedy is overall subjective, but the comedy in this is so bad it’s cringe-city Capital right here. Ugly, stupid humor, and it ends stupidly also.”
But on the other, one viewer wrote, “I am convinced that there are trolls all over this website. I have never met a single person who did not LOVE this movie. It is classic Sandler, thought-provoking, sweet, and absolutely hilarious.”
If you’d like to see for yourself, Mr. Deeds is on Netflix now. Be sure to check out the new movies coming to streaming this month, as well as the films to watch in cinemas. Also, take a look at our roundups of the best sci-fi movies and top action films.
