Mr Woodcock

John Farley (Scott) is a best-selling author and self-help guru who instructs readers to let go of their past. Farley can’t seem to follow his own advice, though, when he returns home to Nebraska and finds his widowed mother (Sarandon) shacked up with a sadistic gym teacher from his childhood, the dour Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). In the ensuing battle for her affection, the amusingly deadpan Thornton cock-slaps the wishy-washy Scott through a medley of visual gags and dick jokes, but you can’t help but feel that Sarandon is meant for better things.