50 First Dates
by Thunderdude
I love Adam Sandler movies. Even when "Punch Drunk Love" was
deemed too weird by most fans, I couldn't help but cheer for Sandler's
performance. Sandler has made a good career for himself in the movies, each
one with it's fair share of fun quirks. As far as commercial and critical
successes go, "The Wedding Singer" was the one that had the broadest appeal.
"50 First Dates" brings Sandler back together with Drew Barrymore, his
co-star in "The Wedding Singer".
In "50 First Dates", Sandler plays Henry Roth, a veterinarian at a Hawaiian aquatic zoo, who is a smooth playa at seducing the many
vacationing ladies (and one guy?) that visit the island. Henry likes his
existence and his lack of commitment. All this changes one day when he meets
Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore), a local woman having breakfast at a small
restaurant that specializes in eggs and Spam. After hitting it off with her,
he comes back the next day to find that Lucy doesn't remember him at all. The owner of the restaurant tells Henry that Lucy has no short term memory,
due to an accident that happened a year before. Every time Lucy goes to
sleep she forgets everything from the last 24 hours. In fact, we learn that
the restaurant owner and the cook, Lucy's father and brother, all try to make
every day practically the same for Lucy just to keep her happy.
Henry now tries to make Lucy fall in love with her every day
from then on. Soon with the help of Henry's native pot smoking pal Ula (Rob
Schneider), Lucy's father and brother (Sean Astin) make videos and help Lucy
keep a notebook to try and cure her if possible.
The movie has the usual Sandler movie regulars that make small appearances,
we don't know they're names, but we know every part they played
in each Sandler movie. Schneider is a recurring face in these movies, along
with Blake Clark, who plays Lucy's father. There are funny and quirky
characters all around. One of the funnier (and creepier characters) is one of
Henry's co-workers, whose sex you can hardly figure out. Sean Astin is
funny, but somewhat annoying as Lucy's wannabe muscle bound brother with a
bad lisp.
Hawaii makes for a nice location for the story, adding to the romantic
aspect. Barrymore and
Sandler have good chemistry, like in "Wedding Singer", making the romance
believable. There are laughs, but not as much as you'd usually get in a
Sandler movie. The movie is still a lot of fun, though. Teaming Sandler and
Barrymore together again seems like trying to recapture the success of
"Wedding Singer". I loved the "Wedding Singer". I
liked "50 First Dates".
Drum roll please........................ B-