MR WOODCOCK – BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
November 25th 2008 03:11
Sometimes after a long week, all you want to do on a Friday night is sit down with a nice glass of wine and watch a great comedy. Nothing that you have to think about or analyze, just something that you can switch your brain off and have a good old laugh at. Unfortunately my partner and I didn’t just switch our brains off, we actually lost brain cells, and hardly laughed at all when we watched MR WOODCOCK.
John Farley (Seann William Scott) is a successful self-help author and motivational speaker, who has written a book about letting go of your past and being able to move on, that has just gone global. He is being honoured by his hometown with an award, so he decides to accept the award in person and heads back to Nebraska.
He arrives at the family home and stays with his widowed mum Beverley (Susan Sarandon) who tells him that she has been dating a man for a while and that it is getting quite serious. When John asks who he is, Beverly says that he actually already knows him. It’s a that point that Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton) walks into the room, and all the terrible memories of high school come flooding back. Mr. Woodcock was John’s gym teacher, and spent each class bullying and tormenting John and his other classmates – making each lesson a living hell.
John tries to be nice to Jasper, but this is not reciprocated. Jasper, although saying that he doesn’t remember John at school, treats him like a student and constantly tries to undermine him. Jasper is also being honoured with an award at the same ceremony as John. He is receiving an award for his years of hard work and dedication at the same high school. John can’t believe that the town is actually giving this terrible man an award for the years of torture he has inflicted onto students.
With the very thought of Mr Woodcock and his mum being intimate together making his skin crawl, John tries to convince Beverly that Jasper is a bad man and that he was the reason school for him was so unbearable. Beverly explains to John that Jasper is a kind man and that he doesn’t know him like she does. John apologises and vows to be nice to Jasper for his mother sake.
When Jasper comes over for dinner later that week, he only brings enough for him and Beverly. John has to run down to the supermarket to get his dinner, and he returns to his mum crying at the breakfast bar.
“Jasper and I are no longer dating”.
John is overcome with relief, but puts on a sad face for his mum pretending to be sorry.
“We’re engaged!!!!!!!” and she shows John the brand new sparkler on her finger. When Jasper walks back into the room and tells John to congratulate his mother, that becomes the final straw. John enlists the help of his old school friend Nedderman (Ethan Suplee – Randy from My Name is Earl), to help him break up his mum and Mr. Woodcock, and to reveal the truth about Mr. Woodcock to the whole town once and for all.
John and Nedderman begin investigating Mr. Woodcock and get themselves into situations that should be funny, but just aren’t. There are a few scenes that you get to giggle at, but that’s pretty much it.
I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was with MR WOODCOCK. I honestly thought that with Seann William Scott who was hilarious as Stiffler in the American Pie movies, as well as Billy Bob Thornton who is pretty much great in everything, and Ethan Suplee who is so funny in My Name is Earl, that this was going to be a hilarious movie. Unfortunately, we were sucked in like many of us have been before – you see the ads for the movie and they were funny so you think that the whole movie is as well, but the only funny parts are what they show in the ads.
The actual concept of the movie is really good – finding out that your mum is dating you most hated teacher from high school and you trying to break them up should have been funny. This is why I don’t blame the actors - they could only do so much with the pathetic script that they were given.
It’s a dismal 3/10 from me.
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