John Farley (Seann William Scott) is a small town boy made good, having recently gotten a self-help book published and lauded. He returns to his hometown, to the delight of his mom (Susan Sarandon, lovely as always). However, he's dismayed to learn that she is now dating his number one childhood nemesis: his tough, unyielding, intimidating Phys. Ed. Teacher Jasper Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). This does NOT sit well with him at all, and he schemes to break up this relationship.
Overall, "Mr. Woodcock" is quite mild and predictable, as it plays out in the expected way of Farley ultimately overstepping boundaries, over-reacting, and ignoring whatever advice *he* supposedly gave in that book. That's not to say that there aren't some decent laughs here and there. It mostly works due to the cast: Scott is earnest, Sarandon is luminous, Ethan Suplee is fairly amusing as one of Farley's childhood cohorts, and Thornton is expertly deadpan. Even when Woodcock "jokes around", the expression on his face barely changes.
Eventually, of course, the protagonist has to have an epiphany where he realizes his mistakes and tries to atone, but he also determinedly squares off against this "bete noir" of his life, who, it is revealed, could possibly show some signs of humanity. (When we meet Woodcocks' father, it goes a long way in explaining things.)
An assortment of familiar faces (Melissa Sagemiller, Amy Poehler, M. C. Gainey, Brent Briscoe, Kurt Fuller, Melissa Leo, Bill Macy) and a reasonably trim run time keep this watchable enough, if ultimately unmemorable. It will likely resonate more for people who've known characters like Woodcock in their own lives.
Five out of 10.
Overall, "Mr. Woodcock" is quite mild and predictable, as it plays out in the expected way of Farley ultimately overstepping boundaries, over-reacting, and ignoring whatever advice *he* supposedly gave in that book. That's not to say that there aren't some decent laughs here and there. It mostly works due to the cast: Scott is earnest, Sarandon is luminous, Ethan Suplee is fairly amusing as one of Farley's childhood cohorts, and Thornton is expertly deadpan. Even when Woodcock "jokes around", the expression on his face barely changes.
Eventually, of course, the protagonist has to have an epiphany where he realizes his mistakes and tries to atone, but he also determinedly squares off against this "bete noir" of his life, who, it is revealed, could possibly show some signs of humanity. (When we meet Woodcocks' father, it goes a long way in explaining things.)
An assortment of familiar faces (Melissa Sagemiller, Amy Poehler, M. C. Gainey, Brent Briscoe, Kurt Fuller, Melissa Leo, Bill Macy) and a reasonably trim run time keep this watchable enough, if ultimately unmemorable. It will likely resonate more for people who've known characters like Woodcock in their own lives.
Five out of 10.