Mr Deeds

Comedian Adam Sandler apparently made this comedy for his late grandmother, because his father told him she "would've liked it". Indeed, what better way to honour granny than to remake her favourite film, Frank Capra's Mr Deeds Goes to Town? Well, the moral of this short story is that good intentions don't make good films. Sandler takes on the Gary Cooper role of the country bumpkin who inherits a business empire, goes to the big city and becomes the unwitting target of a scandal-seeking reporter (Winona Ryder) trying to get the goods on him, as well as a scheming executive (Peter Gallagher) who's just trying to get the goods. Whereas Cooper was an everyman, Sandler is just the man in the street, and director Steven Brill is no Capra - he has replaced wit with smut and sentiment with saccharin. Even the most indulgent grandmother would have to pass on this travesty of an American classic.