Adam Sandler has done it again

Starring:Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder

“Mr. Deeds” is a wickedly bad good movie.

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In true Sandler style, “Mr. Deeds” takes the oddball comedy route to success. The film features the all-star Sandler productions cast. Steve Buscemi comes back as “Crazy Eyes,” and this time his eyes are bugging out of his head just a little more than usual. Peter Gallagher, who played Shooter McGavin in “Happy Gilmore,” is back as Chuck Cedar, and he’s still an ass. Little Nicky’s metal friend, Peter (All right, Chicago kicks ass!), played by Peter Dante, is back as Murph, an even dumber sidekick.

“Mr. Deeds” is a new take on the old black and white comedy “Mr. Deeds goes to Town,” starring Gary Cooper. In the original, Mr. Deeds is a hapless tuba player who stumbles on a large fortune. Of course, Adam Sandler, who plays Longfellow Deeds, didn’t think that being a tuba player was funny enough, so he became a greeting card writer who is incredibly untalented.

“Mr. Deeds” has a different feel from other Sandler films, because it is a re-make. However, it joins the ranks along with “Billy Madison,” “Little Nicky,” “Air Heads” and “The Wedding Singer” as yet another distasteful, hilarious film.

The Sandler comedy is classic because underneath the belly laughs is a lovesick tummy ache. Mr. Deeds falls in love just like Waterboy gives away his fleeting, Cajun heart and Little Nicky melts over an ice cream cone. Perhaps Sandler is first a playboy and second a comedian, because he always finds some way to be overkill sensitive.

The comedy is straightforward, cornball humor with one exception. It’s gotten weirder – as if anyone thought that was possible. OK, so bodily functions are funny and pain is funny, but this film breaks down the walls and ventures into homoerotic fetish humor, and it works. Sandler is a genius when it comes to finding new ways to make people laugh – even if it grosses them out.

One of the highest points of the film is when John McEnroe makes a cameo appearance as himself – a bad-ass tennis player with a temper. Enough said.

One aspect that can take away from the film, but at the same time just might add something, is all the shameless promotional dollar signs popping up. Heineken is a drink of choice, Wendy’s Biggie Meal Deal is a must have for any charter jet flight and Cocoa Pebbles are a prime breakfast food. Sandler somehow gets away with it, and it doesn’t take too much away from the film.

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One major question:What the hell was Peter Collister thinking?

Collister, the cinematographer, made some decisions with this film that seem a bit unwarranted. Usually a “film,” in the beatnik sense of the word, is very introspective and uses camera techniques to tell the story as well as acting, objects and character development. It’s been a while since a real “film” has graced the silver screen and “Mr. Deeds” sure as hell isn’t one of them. “Mr. Deeds” is a movie; it’s an entertaining flick but makes no large, swooping socio-political commentary on the world.

So why is it that whenever Deeds is in his bedroom, the camera is filtered through a soft lens? This distracts the audience, because it may have been set in place as a joke, but it was not executed properly and just ended up slaughtering some scenes.

Pam Dawson, played by Winona Ryder, (“Edward Scissorhands,” “Heathers”) is a journalist seeking to get a story for a tabloid, and she targets Deeds as the freak. Ryder does a decent job of acting in this movie but, for some members of the audience, perhaps it is hard to get the image of her shoplifting out of their heads.

Sandler follows suit with “Mr. Deeds,” and the movie is strong enough to stand up in the ranks with “Happy Gilmore,” “Big Daddy” and “Billy Madison.” The boy who started out on Saturday Night Live has made a warmer, more expensive home for himself on the silver screen, and that’s where he belongs.

Reporter Arin Thompson can be reached at [email protected].