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Film / Mr. Deeds

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Mr. Deeds is a 2002 comedy film directed by Steven Brill, starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder. It is a (very) loose remake of Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.


Tropes include:

  • Abusive Parents: At first, Kevin's father pulling off his belt appears to be Played for Laughs, but it quickly becomes cringeworthy when it becomes obvious from the scene that Kevin's father is beating him on his face.
  • Accidental Truth: A small Brick Joke in the movie. Babe/Miss Dawson claimed to be from Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa. It was a flat out lie, but Deeds manages to actually find the place. Especially the house she described.
  • Alliterative Name: Babe Bennett continues the trend for Sandler's love interests, though unlike some of the others, her initials aren't V.V.
  • Artistic License – Law: No tabloid reporter could ever get away with falsely accusing someone of sexual assault in a televised news show—particularly not if they were never formally charged. In Real Life, this would lead to a libel lawsuit (and considering Deeds' "victim" could easily vouch for his innocence, he'd almost certainly win).
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Deeds is one of the nicest people in the movie, but harm or say bad language in front of the ladies, or insult his upbrining and he'll answer back by kicking your ass.
    • Jan herself is a nice lady who looks out for Deeds, but as Pam discovers, has nothing but contempt for her deceiving the poor guy.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Deeds rescues a woman and her seven cats from a burning building all by himself.
  • Big Good: With or without money, Mr. Deeds always finds a way to invoke this trope. He even goes as far as rescue a woman and all of her cats from a tall, burning apartment building. The only questionable actions he was really seen taking in the movie were while he was out drinking with John McEnroe.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Babe/Pam. She's a cutthroat tabloid news reporter who poses as a sweet, innocent girl-next-door type in order to get close to Deeds.
  • Chekhov's Gag: Deeds shows Emilio his frostbitten black foot that is completely numb to pain and has him poke it and jokingly messes with him by screaming in pain. Later in the movie, it becomes the only way for Deeds to be able to save Babe/Pam from freezing to death after falling through the thin ice.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Early in the movie, Emilio claims that Preston Blake always treated him like a son. Guess who turns out to be Blake's illegitimate son at the end?
  • Cool Old Guy: Blake is arguably considered this according to Emilio, and to top it off he dies scaling a mountain, with a smile on his face.
  • Crying Wolf: Tabloid journalist Babe Bennett pretends to be a Damsel in Distress, getting mugged in order to meet Deeds and dig up dirt on him. Later, when she is really in trouble, he doesn't believe her, until it becomes obvious to him that she will freeze to death if he does nothing.
  • Diner Brawl: Babe vs. Jan, when Babe goes to Mandrake Falls to apologize for lying to Deeds.
  • Fake Danger Gambit: Tabloid journalist Babe Bennett pretends to be a Damsel in Distress, getting mugged in order to meet Deeds and dig up dirt on him. Deeds, quite unaware that he's being tricked into a staged Rescue Romance, chases Babe's attacker down the sidewalk, shoves him over a trashcan, and then uses it as a bludgeoning weapon. Babe cringes sympathetically before settling on punching him about a dozen times.
  • Female Groin Invincibility: Babe Bennett goes to the old diner that Deeds used to frequent to apologize to him. Jan, the waitress who is a close friend of Deeds, causes a Diner Brawl after learning of Babe's deceit. At one point, Babe kicks Jan in the groin several times, which Jan shrugs off.
  • Flipping the Bird: "¡Olé!"
  • For the Evulz: Mac tries to slander Deeds throughout the film simply for his own sick amusement.
  • Funny Foreigner: Emilio. He hails from Spain, and manages to snark at everyone but Deeds, mostly because Deeds treats him with respect.
  • Groin Attack: Babe tries one on Jan. It doesn't work.
  • Heel Realization: Babe has a very emotional one when she realizes she is falling for Deeds, in spite of having lied to him about everything.
    • The investors Deeds talks to have these when they realise that what they do for a living are not what they dreamed of doing as children.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: When Deeds rescues a woman and her seven cats from a burning building, the TV tabloid show for which Babe works makes it look as if he killed the cats and sexually assaulted the woman.
  • Honor Before Reason: This following line plays with this trope.
    Deeds: If it weren't for Miss Dawson being here, I'd probably knock your heads in.
    Babe: Oh I don't mind.
    Deeds: Okay. *Cue Curb-Stomp Battle.*
  • Human Popsicle: Preston Blake was found as this on Mount Everest, kicking off the entire plot.
  • Improvised Weapon: Deeds, quite unaware that he's being tricked into a staged Rescue Romance, chases Babe's attacker down the sidewalk, shoves him over a trashcan and then uses it as a bludgeoning weapon — Babe cringes sympathetically — before settling on punching him about a dozen times.
  • Jerkass:
    • Mac, Babe's boss, as well as Chuck Cedar.
    • The fake mugger qualifies after what he did to get Deeds out of the way just to win Babe's love.
  • Just Plane Wrong: It is impossible for a helicopter to hover over Mount Everest. The air is too thin. However, the director admits that he already knew this and it was merely Rule of Funny.
  • Karma Houdini: Mac. He humiliates Deeds on multiple occasions and blows Babe's cover just because he can. NEVER gets any sort of punishment.
  • Malicious Slander: Again, Mac. See Karma Houdini above.
  • Majority-Share Dictator: Chuck singlehandedly votes to sell off Blake Media, putting thousands of employees out of work.
  • Mama Bear: Jan was willing to cut Pam/Babe for hurting Deeds....with a pizza cutter of all things.
  • Mood Whiplash: When Deeds makes Emilio puncture his "black foot":
    YOU'RE SICK! YOU'RE SICK! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME- I'm just kiddin' you, pal.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Deeds is nice to the Preston servants, including Emilio, after Emilio is revealed to be the true heir, he gives Deeds some money partly due to how well they got along.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: What Deeds gives to Babe's "mugger".
  • Not His Sled: Instead of having Deeds declared legally insane, Cedar's plan is to get rich by selling Deeds' great-uncle's company, leaving the employees jobless. So instead of climaxing in a courtroom scene, the film climaxes in a shareholders' meeting where Deeds shows up to convince the shareholders not to go through with it. He also beats Cedar by proving that his butler is actually his great-uncle's illegitimate son, making him the real heir.
  • Offscreen Teleportation: Emilo, almost to supernatural levels. Able to go from standing right next to Chuck Cedar all the way to a balcony several hundred meters away in a matter of seconds without being seen. Mostly, this is just for Rule of Funny.
  • Precision F-Strike: A reporter for Blake Media utters one on camera when he realizes he's going to lose his job.
    Reporter: Holy shit, this sucks.
  • Product Placement: The gratuitous trip to Wendy's. Deeds even mentions a specific burger (the Big Bacon Classic) by name.
  • Really Gets Around: Implied with Babe. Her boss begins laughing in disbelief when she tells him that part of her cover story will be that she's a virgin.
  • The Remake: Of the 1941 movie Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
  • Rescue Romance: Deeds states that this is how his father met his mother, and this is how he himself meets Babe. Subverted in the latter case, however, as her mugger was a friend of hers putting on an act. He does rescue her for real later on when she falls through thin ice into a lake, however.
  • Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Deeds as the rich suitor; Babe's coworker and fake mugger as the poor suitor. Deeds is the one seen in a better light.
  • Seamless Spontaneous Lie: Babe's lie about Little Winchestertonfieldville, Iowa turns out to mostly come true, and Deeds is too naive to notice the inconsistencies.
  • Southern Gentleman: Kevin Ward's father actually thanks Deeds for teaching his son proper manners and becomes infuriated to learn that Kevin swore in front of women, resulting in him taking off his belt and beating Kevin with it.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: Emilio makes this a Running Gag.
  • Toxic Friend Influence: Upon meeting John McEnroe, Deeds ends up getting drunk and throwing eggs at passing vehicles, while he is a complete Nice Guy throughout the rest of the film.
  • Unexpected Inheritance: Deeds had no idea his mother had a wealthy uncle before said uncle died. Emilio is just as shocked to learn he's Preston Blake's illegitimate son.

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