VA - Mr. Deeds - Music From The Motion Picture (2002)

After so many soundtracks filled with music produced for the soundtrack, not the movie, it's kind of refreshing to find that the soundtrack to Adam Sandler's remake of Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town only has three new songs (highlighted by Dave Matthews Band's "Where Are You Going," a song that has the form and feel of a romantic ballad, but no hook), plus two new remixes, which are blended into a bunch of recent hits (Travis' "Sing," Weezer's "Island in the Sun," Trik Turner's "Friends & Family") and a bunch of oldies (Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door," U2's "Sweetest Thing," David Bowie's "Space Oddity," Yes' "I've Seen All Good People"). It doesn't make the album better per se, but that, along with the lack of dialogue snippets, makes it feel a little bit like a throwback to the days when soundtracks were collections of songs that were actually used in the movie. And that's essentially what this is -- perhaps not everything is featured prominently in the film, and maybe it doesn't hold together thematically or stylistically, but it does recall the film itself, which is a welcome rarity in 2002.~Mr. Deeds Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine