Python Hyena
Mr. Woodcock (2007): Dir: Craig Gillespie / Cast: Seann William Scott, Billy Bob Thornton, Susan Sarandon, Amy Poehler, Melissa Sagemiller: Here is a comedy that is all too by-the-book yet it also presents a theme that many viewers will likely relate too. Memories of physical and emotional abuse. That is what the stern character of Mr. Woodcock stands for. Seann William Scott plays a successful author whose self help book has landed him a top prize in his home town. Problem is that his mother is engaged to his abusive gym teacher Mr. Woodcock. Predictable with Scott attempting to sabotage the relationship thus heading to a corny redemptive ending. The two leads pull through the weak script with Scott totally back treading anything he stood for in his book. Billy Bob Thornton as Woodcock is the symbol of our childhood fears. We know that these two will be forced to call a truce. Directed by Craig Gillespie with supporting roles that are a total waste. Susan Sarandon as Scott's mother is totally cardboard. She will give the lecture near the conclusion but someone should have lectured her on the role. Amy Poehler as Scott's manager is underused. Melissa Sagemiller plays Scott's love interest and she's more or less a prop. Well made comedy with a message of past pain that is evident as we all muster up images of a Mr. Woodcock from somewhere. Score: 6 / 10
punishmentpark
Even though 'Mr. Woodcocks' has its moments, and a relatively 'scary' premise to boot, the film fails completely in its execution and writing.Considering its premise (and most of its cast, except for Sean William Scott and Ethan Suplee), this could have been a great black comedy, but one look at the poster and the title, and you know what time it is: a(n ultimately) simplistic and in the end (confusingly) moralistic tale that really strikes no cord at all, even if the potential shines through here and there. I was warned, and I even remembered somewhere during the film that I'd tried this one before sometime...3 out of 10.
classicsoncall
I have to admit, one of my guilty pleasures is seeing Billy Bob Thornton as a character like Willie in "Bad Santa". He strikes just the right attitude when he's playing your basic low life, delivering caustic barbs with precision timing. That's why I thought "Mr. Woodcock" would hold more promise in the witty one liner department where he gets to play a sadistic high school gym teacher, a role that virtually ensures a parody of similar minded gym teachers and coaches everywhere. Instead, the picture overdoses on the many variations you can come up with using the word 'corn', a veritable cornucopia of corny jokes as it were. See what I mean, there was a lot of that.Too bad, because the flick held a lot more promise than what it actually delivered, even though I found myself laughing out loud a few times, even once un-corn-trollably. That was when Woodcock took the gurney dive head first into the asphalt, a move that topped even a well placed basketball to the groin, which anyone who ever had a coach like Woodcock would have seen coming a mile away.You know, as I think back to my own high school days, I had a gym teacher who was a bit like Mr. Woodcock when you come right down to it. He weighed two thirty and was built like a brick wall, crew cut hair and a menacing deadpan look just like Thornton's character. His name was Mr. Green and one of his favorite activities was the rope climb to the ceiling of the gym. If this sounds vaguely familiar to anyone reading this, we might have been in the same gym class together. Drop me a line. And Mr. Green - if you're reading this, I'll deny every word of it.
Syl
It has a great cast featuring Billy Bob Thornton in the title role of Jasper Woodcock, a physical education teacher, in Forest Meadow, Nebraska. He is dating the mother of a self-help author played by Susan Sarandon. I forget who plays the son but really Sarandon and Thornton steal the scenes away. Jasper Woodcock is pretty much like his surname and can be cruel to his students to teach them a lesson. Well when one of his graduate students returns to town for an award, he is shocked or horrified at the idea of him becoming his stepfather. I have to say that the cast is superb featuring small roles by Melissa Leo as Woodcock's ex-wife, Bill Macy as his father, Ethan Suplee as a fellow classmate from school of his, etc. Of course, I can't forget Amy Poehler who steals the scenes as an over the top book agent. Well, the film has plenty of humorous moments to mention. It's done quite effectively and timely. There's not that much stupidity in this film comedy as in others. It's a fine wild ride of laughter and seriousness but more laughter.
AD
