Title: Mr. Woodcock
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Seann
William Scott, Susan Sarandon, Kurt Fuller, Amy Poehler
Directed By: Craig Gillespie
Produced By: Karen Lunder, Diana
Pokorny, Bob Cooper (IV)
Genre: Comedy
Release Date: September 14th, 2007
(limited), Sept 21st (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual
content, thematic material, language and a mild drug reference.
Distributors: New
Line Cinema
John Farley (Sean William Scott)was a
fat little kid whose gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton),
used harsh if not brutal methods of teaching Phys. Ed.. Fast forward
and Farley has written a self help book based on his experiences and
heads home to stop his mother from marrying said gym teacher.
There are only a few different types of
comedies – memorable, forgettable and just plain OK.
Mr.
Woodcock falls int the last category due mainly to the fact that
it expends all of the most funny bits in the trailer. Plus, at least
one gag that was set up, never got to pay off. Add to that a weak
love interest for Farley and it equals your average summer comedy.
No one shines in this movie but every
cast member brings something to the table. Sean William Scott proves
that he can be somebody else besides Stifler. He just wants to help
his mom but goes about doing it the wrong way, slowly straying from
the path that he himself has preached about in his book. Thornton is
almost monotone in his performance. I understand that it is most
likely his character, but he is never given a moment to really let
loose. Susan Sarandon's Beverly Farley is your cookie cutter mom, she
just wants her men to get along and really isn't the focus here. Amy
Poehler is a little out of place as Farley's agent who is even more
crazy than the people she is supposed to shield Farley from. Ethan
Suplee has fallen into a rut as playing the fat, stupid loser. Same
as he does in
My Name Is Earl and
Mallrats.
In comedies that don't seem to live up
to their expectations, I find myself warming to the deeper story. In
Mr. Woodcock, Woodcock is being honored as the Educator of the
Year, and while Farley and most of his students think he is a prick,
what he did had ultimately helped almost all of his students, except
maybe Needleman (Ethan Suplee). I don't have any idea why that popped
into my head, but there you are.
To make a short story even shorter,
Mr.
Woodcock would be a safe date movie or a way to pass a lazy
afternoon, but not much more than that.
Keep reading,
Mitch E
mitch@comicbookbin.com
