After the testicular humor of Balls of Fury, (a film that never met a gonad metaphor it didn't like), Mr. Woodcock may seem like the logical next step — a movie that gets, quite literally, to the root of the matter.
Phallic shadows fall mightily all over Mr. Woodcock, but, sadly, the film lacks the frenetic energy or even the gross-out bravado of Balls of Fury. Seann William Scott stars as John Farley, a successful self-help author who returns to his hometown only to find his mom (Susan Sarandon) dating the titular Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), the sadistic, ultra-macho gym teacher who tormented him all through high school. A heated pissing contest naturally results, with the two men competing for the affections of Sarandon, engaging in a movie-long match of wits and brawn, and all but whipping out their johnsons while running for the measuring sticks.
Thorton's Woodcock (and yes, the name means exactly what you think it does) is cut from much the same cloth as his self-involved jerk-offs in Bad Santa, Bad News Bears and School for Scoundrels, but a little bit of this sort of concentrated obnoxiousness goes a long way. There's an undeniable charisma that Thornton brings to the role, but the movie itself is dull and, for the most part, painfully void of real laughs.
The film's humor, such as it is, is almost exclusively rooted in suffering and indelicate irony (the more Farley exposes what a creep Woodcock is, the more people love him), but the film rarely manages to make any of this work in a way that's particularly funny. For that matter, Mr. Woodcock never even makes it clear if we're supposed to actually like the titular character, and the film continues to send out its inept, mixed messages until the bitter, charmless end.
Mr. Woodcock (R) Stars Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott. Susan Sarandon, Amy Poehler and Ethan Suplee. Opens Sept. 14 at local theaters. 1.5 stars
This article appears in Sep 12-18, 2007.
