Mr. Woodcock takes corny flicks to new humorous level

Have you ever felt like there was that one teacher who was out to get you? Well for John Farley, it was Mr. Woodcock.

When John Farley (Seann William Scott) was growing up, he was over weight and not at all athletic and consequently got picked on by his hard-ass gym teacher, Mr Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton). The movie opens with a scene showing just how cruel Woodcock can be. He makes fun of the children, talks down to them, throws basketballs at them, forces them to run laps for wheezing too loudly. He even punishes them for not wearing their gym uniform and forces them to change in front of the other children. His brutality led John Farley to move away from their small town to a big city and write a self-help book about letting go of the past.

When John's book becomes a best seller, his hometown contacts him to award him with The Corn Cob Key to The City, the most prestigious award they give out. John decides to return home to accept the award only to find that his mother, Beverly (Susan Sarandon) is dating Mr. Woodcock. Suddenly, his short visit is extended and vows to not leave until he has broken up the new happy couple. He teams up with an old friend from school who also dislikes Woodcock, Nedderman (Ethan Suplee). They begin plotting and planning against their former gym teacher, however, everything they throw at him goes horribly wrong, including ruining Beverly‘s last chance at happiness.

I enjoyed this movie. It had a pretty good plot and was quite funny, however I do feel that the trailer showed almost all of the funniest scenes. Billy Bob Thornton (School for Scoundrels) seems to almost always play the mean guy in movies. He did a good job at making the audience hate him throughout the film, while showing his character growth, just a little. Scott (The Dukes of Hazard) did an excellent job as the good guy, being funny while watching him torture himself for not being able to get his mother away from the devil, Woodcock. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes to laugh, as long as you go in to the movie not expecting an award-winning plot and enjoy it for what it is, a slightly predictable, but still enjoyable comedy.

Final Words: Saw it. Liked it. The movie was pleasantly “corny.”