Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Posted by Devanshu in Reviews on July 21st, 2004When was the last time you saw a movie that had ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ as it’s theme song and took it seriously? The time was 1936 and you could sing that song without sounding cynical. Or so I believe now, nearly 70 years later. It seems, though, that people must have been equally cynical back then. Post-depression, between wars. However, if you’re Frank Capra, you could get away with it over and over as you pit the likes of Gary Cooper and James Stewart as small-town bumpkins against ‘the man’, the system. This time, it’s Gary Cooper who’s inherited a vast sum from his big city uncle and must deal with the pressures inherent of being a Frank Capra character. If you’ve seen the Adam Sandler version, you haven’t seen anything. The premise is same- however, in that version, the jokes are turned up and told twice for effect.

City of God, Cidade de Deus. In the beginning I begin to suspect influences from Scorsese and Innaritu but then half way through I realize this is a whole different animal. Still, the comparison to Goodfellas is inevitable, because it is a similar kind of story- a narrated, almost documentary-like chronicle about.. gangsters. But where Goodfellas was a story you about familiar kind of people from familiar places, City of God transports you to a place where the fate of these people is inevitable- the slums outside Rio, where everything seems alien.. yet familiar- for they are only children. Expect a full review very soon! This one is for the ages.
Director Elia Kazan’s supposed explanation for his actions (naming names for the House of UnAmerican Activities), On the Waterfront has a script and actors that feel like they wouldn’t even need a director. But oh what a director they have. ‘I coulda been a contender’- that speech alone is worth price of admission. Rank it up there with ‘And then your enemies would be my enemies’ as Don Corleone.