Movie Review: Mr. Woodcock 7/10

Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon
Director: Craig Gillespie

Before taking out the DVD I had my reservations about watching this flick. More than one reviewer gave it a paltry 5.5/10. Why bother? Well, having seen it, I think it’s worth the bother if you still have a bone to pick with one (or more) of your teachers.

When I was in High school I had a mathematics teacher; we called him Flash Venter. He was almost always red-faced, sweating and smoked like a chimney. Flash was feared by all, despised by some, and universally respected for his ruthless mathematical precision.

I remember his opening speech on our first day in his class. We were so frightened the class was covered in frost on that January day. We were ordered to keep our eyes fixed on him at all times. No daydreaming. No distractions. I glanced down at my pencil tip 30 minutes later and suddenly found myself hanging by my own tie (literally). He said: “Van der Leek, what did I just say?” “Sir, do you expect us to look at you the entire time, every single day?” And so the scene was set for mortal conflict between us over the next 5 years. I would later have my school case emptied out the window for packing up a moment too soon.

At one point I found myself playing for the men’s second hockey team, but he was the coach, so I made sure I played badly enough to get dropped from the pressure-cooker so I could go back to playing for the third team. The kickers came in matric though. Just before an important swimming race, as I was about to mount the blocks, he said something like: “You may be useless at maths van der Leek, but you can swim all right.”
And after a matric exam a bunch of us were talking and from the front of the hall, and it was a big hall, he said: “Van der Leek, shutup, get up, and go to the office.”

Mr. Woodcock is basically about your mom hooking up with a teacher like Flash. Not something you would wish on your mom, or worse, yourself. John Farley (Seann William Scott) a young author of a successful self-help book (called Letting Go) find himself in exactly this position when he returns home to find mom (Susan Sarandon) getting cosy with none other than Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). There’s a classical scene in a diner when John informs his mates that their ex-teacher is going out with his mother.

The flick is hilarious and, it must be said, somewhat contrived. The worst thing about Mr. Woodcock is the title, but Woodcock isn’t called Woodcock for nothing either. The poster could have been better too – it makes one wonder: “Is this a movie about basketball?” It’s not.

Essentially it’s another brilliant comedy performance by Seann William Scott (Stiffler in American Pie, and opposite Keanu reeves in Dude Where’s My Car). Craig Gillespie directs with rib poking precision. If you have some awful memories of High school (I sure do) you will enjoy this film enormously, and learn to lighten up at the same time.