Ok, but not a Sandler classic (**1/2)

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2004)

Once again, here's an Adam Sandler movie with a nifty idea, a likeable cast and all the potential in the world to be a good, fun comedy. But it doesn't quite get there.
I really like Adam Sandler, both as a person and a comedian. The problem is, only three of his movies are any good: "Happy Gilmore", "The Wedding Singer", and of course "Punch-Drunk Love". The first two were just good comedies, plain and simple, while the third was a spellbinding, artsy, dark romantic comedy that utterly confused his core fans (maybe they were wondering why Rob Schneider never turned up in a stupid costume).

"50 First Dates" is by no means as terrible as Sandler's worst films, like "Anger Management", "The Waterboy", the hideous "Mr. Deeds", or "Along Came Polly" (oops, that was a bad Adam Sandler movie that happened to star Ben Stiller instead). But it's not nearly as good as it should be.

Sandler plays Henry, a ladies' man living in Hawaii who meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore) in a local restaurant and they like each other. So he's surprised the next day when she doesn't even know who he is. The deal is that over a year earlier, she was in a bad car accident and has lost most of her short-term memory due to a head injury. She remembers everything up to the accident, but can't remember anything afterwards for more than a day. In an effort to keep her happy, her family and friends try hard to keep her re-living the same day over and over. There are a lot of good qualities in "50 First Dates". The ways in which Lucy's family and friends try to keep her happy is really very touching, especially on her "bad days", which they are also prepared for. And as they proved in "The Wedding Singer", Sandler and Barrymore have good, goofy chemistry. They have a few genuinely sweet and romantic scenes together.

Unfortunately, the negatives almost equal the positives. There are tons of jokes and lines that fall dead flat (you could have heard a pin drop in the theater during some of the "funny" parts), several annoying secondary characters, and the uneasy feeling you get when a movie is trying to be really cutesy AND cram in unnecessary toilet humor at the same time.

Still, it's not a bad time. Even the worst Sandler movies have great soundtracks (this one features Bob Marley, the Beach Boys, and some Cure covers), and there is surprisingly bittersweet ending, given a huge emotional boost by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's gentle "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World" (which was also used for the closing credits of "Finding Forrester").
It's not all that good overall, but still, I have generally warm feelings about seeing it, which means the good stuff is staying in my mind longer than the bad, so I guess that counts for something.