7. Mr. Deeds (2002)
Starring Adam Sandler, one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors, Mr. Deeds is a 2002 comedy released at the height of his popularity. Telling the story of a kind-hearted small-town man who unexpectedly inherits the wealth of a multi-billionaire, Mr. Deeds is far from one of Sandler’s most successful movies. Even so, with Winona Ryder, Peter Gallagher, and John Turturro all appearing, it’s still a somewhat memorable movie.
Mr. Deeds is actually based on a short story called Opera Hat, which was previous made into the 1936 movie Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. A comedy-drama-romance directed by the legendary Frank Capra, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town tells essentially the same story as the 2002 remake, albeit with less toilet humor. Thanks, Adam Sandler.
Like with many remakes, Mr. Deeds was made so long after the original movie that most people had forgotten its existence. This allowed Mr. Deeds to earn a name in its own right, even if that name wasn’t a particularly good one. As much as it might be one of Sandler’s more forgettable movies of the ’00s, Mr. Deeds was also a remake of another forgotten movie.