Typical Sandler Material, But Pleasant Comedy (spoilers)

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2004)

'50 First Dates' is Sandler in his typical innocuous role just as he has in nearly every role he's been in since he started making movies. But, this one, probably because of an unusual love story and a decent supporting cast, is much better than his recent mediocre fare which includes 'Mr. Deeds,' 'Eight Crazy Nights,' and 'Anger Management,' three of the most mundane comedies I've ever seen.
Adam Sandler is Henry Roth, a veternarian who initially appears to be a real jerk. The introduction features several women sharing with their girlfriends about a romantic fling they had during their vacations, all with the same guy: Henry Roth; a guy who hates commitment. All that changes for Henry when he meets Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) at a local cafe. Unfortunately, the one girl he's really fallen in love with turns out to have no short-term memory. Her brain damage is a result of a car accident and she can't make any new memories. So, every day she gets up thinking it's exactly the same day that it was when she had the accident. Hence the title, '50 First Dates.'
The story is very reminiscint of 'Groundhog Day,' in that the same situation is repeated over and over again. Except, Lucy doesn't know that she'll be reliving that same day again and again. And although her father (Blake Clark) and brother (Doug) always try to recreate the same day for her--her father's birthday, the last day she remembers--Henry wants to make the most of the day for Lucy, starting every day by telling Lucy about her accident, and essentially, spend time with her for the rest of the day. Henry Roth really falls in love with this girl, so it's a matter of is he going to be doing this for the rest of his life since the people at the institute have basically declared her condition incurable?
It's a pleasant comedy and makes for an interesting love story, although at times a pretty sad one because Lucy is basically being told every day about her accident and the passage of time and so forth. It works, I suppose, because Sandler and Barrymore are pretty much in the same character roles they've been doing for a long time. I'm sure the audience's favorite, on the other hand, was the kooky character, Ulo, that Sandler's faithful co-star, Rob Schneider plays, delivering many of the laughs in this film.

The story and characters are a formulaic arrangement of previous Sandler comedies. The strange friend (here, a hermaphrodite) with eerie suggestions and confusing sexual innuendos; old characters who say the damnedest things; and so forth. If you liked 'The Wedding Singer,' chances are, you'll enjoy this one even if you haven't been too pleased with previous Sandler comedies. I wonder if he's ever going to be able to get away from comedies like these and still be funny, especially when he gets older.