Following the flop of Little Nicky, Adam Sandler returned to safe territory in Mr. Deeds... and made Nicky look inspired by comparison. A loose remake of Frank Capra's 1936 classic Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, this dumbed-down version finds Sandler in the Gary Cooper role, inheriting a vast fortune and a corporate empire, foiling a greedy executive (Peter Gallagher), and winning the heart of an undercover reporter (Winona Ryder) who's been mocking his small-town naiveté in print while falling for his goodhearted sincerity. It's fun enough to satisfy Sandler's loyal fans--and John Turturro's a hoot as Deeds's foot-fetishist butler--but the subtleties of Capra are lost on Sandler, director Steven Brill, and writer Tim Herlihy. While Gary Cooper portrayed a rube who was savvy about big-city cynicism, Sandler's an amiable goofball with a heart of gold and an empty skull. You can admire him, and parts of the movie (including Steve Buscemi's unbilled cameo), but you have to work harder to get there. --Jeff Shannon