About As Good As Could Be Expected

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2004)

The only two Adam Sandler movies that I really, REALLY like are "The Wedding Singer" and "Punch-Drunk Love", and much of what I like about them is that Adam Sandler is in them; I can't imagine anyone other than Sandler playing either Robbie Hart or Barry Egan. With the exception of, say, the first 20 minutes, I don't see why somebody else couldn't have played Henry Roth in "50 First Dates". Mind you, I don't necessarily think that that's a bad thing; that first part was for me the least engaging piece of this movie.
What worked for me here was the romance, not the comedy. Given the rather ridiculous premise they had to work around, I thought that Henry's attempts to court and, later, to help Lucy were really rather touching. I also felt that the way their relationship went up and down and up again was honest for the situation (again, granting the the premise was absurd), and I thought that the ending was both emotionally satisfying without being a cheat (given that they could have taken the easy way out).
Of course, I could have done without the puking walrus and Rob Schneider, and Henry crying his way through 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' felt like a rip-off from "Wedding Singer", but Willy the penguin more than made up for all that.
7/10 for Drew and Adam's second pairing. If they do another together, I'll make sure to see it in the theater.