Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 2 ratings
Taken aback by his mother's wedding announcement, a young man returns home in an effort to stop her from marrying his old high school gym teacher, a man who made high school hell for generations of students.
Mr. Woodcock is a formulaic comedy that follows a predictable fish-out-of-water/homecoming structure with little narrative surprise. Billy Bob Thornton delivers his signature deadpan menace effectively, elevating the material above its script, but the rest of the cast is largely wasted. Visually, the film is flat and unremarkable, typical of mid-2000s studio comedies. The concept of the mean gym teacher is a well-worn comedic archetype with no fresh spin applied here. The resolution is rushed and unsatisfying, defaulting to genre convention without earning its conclusion. Overall a mediocre studio comedy that coasts on Thornton's screen presence.