There is always some annoyance for me whenever I encounter an Adam Sandler movie while scrolling through streaming services, particularly if it is one that I have yet to review for The Legionnaire.  God forgive me because that is not a charitable thing to say.  To be fair to the famous comedian, he has enjoyed over thirty years of popularity that has made him a household name.  I do not enjoy are his juvenile antics, despite his humor being widely liked by family and friends alike.  In recent years, my eldest niece’s favorite movies were the two Murder Mystery films he did with Jenifer Aniston.  Like most of what he has done, they were not to my liking, as much as I desire common ground with my rapidly aging niece.  Having admitted my distaste for his brand of comedy, it must be noted that there is a narrow cross section of his work that I can tolerate, especially as a practicing Catholic.  Mr. Deeds (2002) is one of them, and this review intends to show you why.

If you think that Preston Blake (Harve Presenell) is Mr. Deeds because the film begins with him climbing Mount Everest, then you would be mistaken.  By definition, he is doing a thing, but he is jeopardizing not only the lives of his companions, but his own as well.  The others say that they are giving up the ascent so close to the top, but he goes on to a comically tiny summit and dies frozen to the peak.  This is a problem for Chuck Cedar (Peter Gallagher), the chief executive officer (CEO) of Blake Media.  It is a broadcast and print publishing conglomerate that made Preston one of the richest men in the world.  The issue lies in the fact that he passed away with no heirs, meaning Chuck’s plan of selling off the enterprise has to be put on hold.  He believes his luck changes when his team locates a long-lost nephew, Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler).  He has been living in the small town of Mandrake Falls, New Hampshire, surrounded by the so-called simple folk of such locales.  What becomes immediately apparent about Deeds, as everyone likes to call him, is that he is the most generous and outgoing person you will ever meet.  This only feeds into Chuck’s view that they have gotten themselves a sucker, insisting Deeds comes to New York for a few days in order to sign inheritance forms.  This will divest Deeds of a controlling interest in the corporation, making him $40 billion richer but giving all the power to Chuck.  Deeds’ unassuming nature has him going along with the plan, trusting in those who have come to get him.  Upon arriving at his high-rise mansion in the heart of Manhattan, the first person Deeds meets is his servant, Emilio Lopez (John Turturro), who served Preston for decades.  All this attention is not something Deeds is used to, and he tries to do on his own most of what Emilio is there to do.  Deeds’ arrival is also of major interest to the press, and each of the news outlets are trying to scoop each other on the identity of the newest billionaire.  At one of the more tabloid-esque television news programs is producer Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder).  Wanting to be taken more seriously as a reporter by her boss and on-air talent, Mac McGrath (Jared Harris), she vows to uncover Deeds’ life story.  The goal is to splash any seedy details on prime-time news, but one bit of early information she gets is his do-gooder nature.  With this fact in mind, she has one of her co-workers, Marty (Allen Covert), pretend to mug her and then have Deeds save her.  While Deeds goes overboard beating up the supposed criminal, he is immediately taken with Babe.  To continue to gain his trust, she makes up a backstory about her also being from small town America, calling herself Pam Dawson and hailing from what she believes to be the fictional town of Winchestertonfieldville.  They begin going out on dates, and the more she comes to see that he is genuine about his desire to do right, the more she falls in love with him.  Her feelings also make her job increasingly untenable, made more difficult every time they spin the footage she surreptitiously obtains into making him look like a lunatic.  An unforeseen result of this blossoming relationship is that Deeds is beginning to consider staying with Blake Media.  Over a supposedly friendly tennis match with Chuck, the always eager to help Deeds not only states his intentions to be more personally involved in the business, but of his intention to marry Babe.  Seeing his plans on the verge of ruin, Chuck visits Mac and asks for help.  On the evening that Deeds plans to propose, with Chuck stopping by to wish him luck, they tune into Mac’s program.  There is the inevitable reporting about him, but it reveals Babe’s true identity.  A crushed Deeds decides to sign the paperwork.  In a move bound to put a smile on any Catholic’s face, instead of taking the large sum of money, he says to donate it all to charity.  Babe later follows Deeds to Mandrake Falls to apologize.  After falling into an ice-covered pond for her troubles, she is saved by Deeds, who tells her that he does not know her.  Yet, he gets an incentive to return to New York when he sees on television that Chuck plans to sell Blake Media and fire tens of thousands of employees.  He buys one share of stock in order to get into the meeting where the sale is to be announced, making an impassioned speech to the shareholders that changes their minds about dividing the company.  Chuck cares little for this sentiment and reminds everyone that he holds the most vote.  He is about to press forward with his plan until he is interrupted by Babe.  She has done some research based on Preston’s diary and other documents, proving that Emilio is Preston’s son and true heir.  A grateful Emilio fires Preston and gives Emilio a billion dollars as thanks.  Back in Mandrake Falls, Babe and Deeds start a life together in a village where he has bought Corvettes for all the residents.

This last charitable move we see from Mr. Deeds is of the more material variety.  He does plenty of other things that, like giving away wealth, which is in keeping with Catholic principles.  The act of kindness just mentioned has a Biblical equivalent.  In Matthew 19:16-22, a young man comes to Jesus and asks the Lord what must be done to enter Heaven.  Jesus responds by reminding him to keep the Commandments.  Apparently, he had done all these things, following up with a question about anything he lacks.  Jesus then tells him to sell what he owns.  Verse twenty-two concludes the interaction with a downtrodden young man, sad because he has many possessions.  Jesus goes on in the next few lines to talk about how difficult it is for rich people to get into Heaven, comparing it to a camel passing through the eye of a needle.  If you are not familiar with the size difference, just know that it is impossible.  Yet, anything is possible for God. I add this last bit to say that if you are a person of means that does not mean that the only way to spend eternity in Heaven is to become a pauper.  The problem is that wealth can distract us from those without, particularly people like the homeless.  There is a scene in the film, which is played for laughs, but underscores what a person with money can do for the poor.  Emilio tries to stop a homeless person walking around the house with a painting and a bottle of champagne.  He does so only to be waved off by Deeds, who had given the items to the stranger.  On his way out, Deeds tells the destitute man to come back any time to use the facilities.  In short, Deeds is a charitable person.  When it comes to almsgiving, Jesus advises us in Matthew 6:3 to “not let your left hand know what the right is doing.”  These words have been interpreted in a variety of ways over the centuries, but in light of today’s film, I see it is giving to others without thought.  Being charitable does not have to be complicated.  You simply have to have a heart for doing the right thing no matter the situation.  This may be another dumb Sandler flick, but it has the correct attitude.

In fact, I may go so far as to recommend Mr. Deeds.  I do not think it is funny, and it has enough Sandler-isms to make it frustrating at times.  What trumps it all is the character he plays.  We need more people like him in the world.