Sandler learns to act

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2004)

I wasn't going to comment on this film, but having voted (in the daily vote segment) for "your favourite Adam Sandler movie" and seeing how poorly "50" polled - well, I just couldn't resist the temptation.
Sandler, on screen, often projects a goofy character immersed in slapstick. Sometimes the character works; most often it doesn't. I love "The Wedding Singer" but feel that it indicated that there was more to come from Sandler. "Happy Gilmore", well... A feel-good movie with ridiculous caricatures within a ridiculous plot.
"50", however, shows an actor apparently comfortable with, and in charge of, a sensitive portrayal. The premiss of the film is much that of "Groundhog Day" but original in its portrayal of problems which, later in life, are associated with Altzheimer's Disease. Living each day as if it is one's first is poignantly shown in the closing scenes. Life has passed regardless of its memories. And each day contains its own amazing happenings. Each day should be lived for its own sake.
Perhaps this is why I like "50 First Dates" so much. "Yesterday is history / Tomorrow a mystery / But today is a present." Sandler presents a character so much in love that he overcomes the perceived familial need to keep his love in an eternal cocoon - eternally locked inside a day that all around her will do everything to protect and thus preserve. Time however, is insatiable: it is a gaping maw which sucks us all into the ageing process. Love is all, love is you.