Longfellow Deeds, played by actor Adam Sandler, is the extremely laid-back owner of a pizza restaurant in the small town of Mandrake Falls, in America.

Adam SandlerBy some insane fluke, he inherits his late-uncle's $40 billion fortune.

On a trip to New York to sign papers which will secure his share of his uncle's company he meets and falls in love with Pam Dawson (Winona Ryder), a school nurse from Iowa.

What he doesn't know is that Pam is actually Babe Bennett, reporter for Inside Access magazine, trying to get the goods on Deeds.

Without Sandler's fierce reputation for ruthless comedy, this film would not be a major release. The actor fails to find the comic form he has demonstrated in earlier films and this piece relies on names alone rather than content and ability to pull in the punters.

Director Steven Brill, who also directed Sandler in Little Nicky, delivers a relatively flat and uninspiring New York City for a backdrop. In the scene where Babe and her co-worker fake a mugging, for example, the street appears deserted rather than bustling. To make matters worse, the bland visuals are littered with familiar fish-out-of-water situations, including Deeds' fascination with the acoustics of his uncle's huge apartment and its vast housekeeping staff.

The most disturbing aspect of the film is that, after deciding happiness is more important than money, Deeds doesn't do anything worthwhile with his inheritance. He just wants to wash his hands of it.

Mr Deeds is a huge ball of Adam Sandler cliche which dedicated fans will love but other movie-goers will soon tire of.