Enjoyable but somewhat schizophrenic (minor spoilers)

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2006)

The trouble with this movie is that it can't quite decide what kind of film it wants to be. At the beginning, it plays like a not very funny slapstick comedy in "National Lampoon's Animal House" style, as one might expect from Rob Schneider's presence in the cast. If you can get past this (my wife gave up on it after ten minutes), the movie gradually transforms itself into a sensitive romance, albeit one on which the low comedy elements continue to intrude.
The problem is that the two elements don't gel well together, so that all the stuff about walrus vomit and wet dreams and the aquarium assistant of uncertain gender seem grafted uneasily on to what is in essence a bittersweet romance, undermining the tenderness of the love story. However Drew Barrymore is charming, the Hawaiian scenery is beautiful, and without giving too much of the plot away, the ending is genuinely touching, and leaves the viewer with a good feeling.