Mr. Woodcock DVD: Review By Brian Gallagher

This is one of those movies that when I first heard about it, I was just all for it. I mean, Billy Bob Thornton as a sadistic gym teacher, Seann William Scott playing the nice guy for a change, who was tortured by Thornton as a kid, and Susan Sarandon as Scott's mom who's about to marry Thornton, and tries to break it up. I was pumped from day one. When I saw the first trailer, though, and then saw it in the theater, it really wasn't quite what I expected. I think I like it a little bit more now that I've seen it again, but it still doesn't live up to what I first had pictured in my head.

John Farley (Seann William Scott) is a successful self-help book author who, as a kid, was just one of many who were constantly ridiculed and tormented by the steelly Mr. Woodc*ck (Billy Bob Thornton). Riding the success of his book, "Letting Go: Getting Past Your Past," Farley has come back home to receive the town's highest honor, the Corn Cob Key, when he discovers that his mother Beverly (Susan Sarandon) has been dating Mr. Woodc*ck. Despite his successful book, the memories of his past with Woodc*ck still haunt him, and he refuses to take his own advice and conspires against his old nemesis.

While I do like this a little more that the first time I've seen it, there are some lingering annoyances. I'm not sure if that's a word or not, but I'm using it anyway. For one, Melissa Sagemiller's potential "love interest" for Seann's character is usesd about as sparsely as one could be used and still receive billing for. We see the kid who plays Ethan Suplee's brother more than we see her in this flick. The movie is only 88 minutes long, and it really feels that they just hint at a lot of stuff when they really could've expanded this a good 10 minutes, at least. The last big problem I have with it is the drop-off ending that really just comes out of nowhere. I'm sure they thought they were hinting at a bunch of stuff here, but really, it just seemed that they didn't know how to end it. It's really quite a terrible ending, folks.

The good news is that Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott and Susan Sarandon all live up to their names here in some fine performances. Thornton is at the top of his intimidating game here as Jasper Woodc*ck, Scott gives us hints of his past typecasted ways, but primarily plays it straight as John Farley and Susan Sarandon is as charming as ever as Beverly. And, as a cherry on top of the acting cake, Amy Poehler steals practically every seen as Farley's sardonic literary manager. She is just absolutely hilarious.

It's not a perfect movie by any means, but it really isn't too terribly bad. The foursome of Thornton, Scott, Sarandon and Poehler outshine the malnourished script enough to give this at least one viewing. Who knows. Give it two and maybe you'll even like it more.

First up here are 10 Deleted/Alternate Scenes for your viewing pleasure. Like a lot of deleted or extended scenes, most aren't too good. We do get a few nuggets of good stuff here, especially the Flashback to Young Farley at the Shower and an ending that was actually a LOT better than the theatrical ending. Check those out, but the rest aren't worth it.

The Making of Mr. Woodc*ck is next, and it's your run-of-the-mill stuff with a lot of interviews but it's a lot broader than most of them. In most of these, you talk with the stars and maybe the director and screenwriters, and we get all this here. We also have little bits from producers, costume designers, and even these twin stunt kids who are the sons of a famous stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker. It isn't your normal "he's so great" sort of stuff you see in most of these. OK, well some of it is, but there's not nearly as much as you'd normally get. This 15-minute featurette takes us pretty deep into this world and it's a pretty good time, even though they end it flatly like they do the movie.

The only other thing we get here, besides the Trailer is P.E. Trauma Tales. I originally thought this would be just cast and crew members talking about their gym teachers, and, for the first little intro, that's all it is, but they turn it around by showing us a little glimpse into an actual P.E. teacher's life. This guy, Terry Sobel, doesn't seem like quite as much of a prick as Mr. Woodc*ck, but his routines seem quite uncannily similar. We still get a lot of little blurbs from the cast and crew, but they intercut with this real P.E. teacher. They also cut in some old-school 50s P.E. footage for some nostalgia. This 12-minute featurette is really nicely done and gives you a good glimpse into quite a few people on this movie's P.E. history (even extras) along with a real teacher.

The film is presented in the widescreen format in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The sound is handled through the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound format.

Simple, but effective. The front has Thornton looking mean in the center, Scott looking aprehensive on the left and Sarandon looking charmed on the right, with the title card above them. The back has a few random shots from the flick, plus a solid synopsis, small special features box plus the billing block and tech specs. Nothing flashy, but it works.

This is, at the very least, worth a trip to the video store or a click on your queue. It's a fairly entertaining little romp and the movie as a whole is not unlike the title character himself. They're both essentially good, but need some work done around the edges.