5 minutes away from an all-time classic

Rating: Null/10 (1 March 2004)

As surprising as this sounds--especially to anyone who knows me and the kinds of films I normally like--but for the lack of a little restraint this good movie could have been a great one. Instead, we are left with nothing but a near miss and the promise of what might have been. Imagine a movie like Casablanca with a fart joke thrown in.
I was furious when I left this movie. Except for a handful of ridiculously unnecessary scenes/plot points, this movie would have been near perfect. I can't remember being this mad since I saw ET and was surprised by the now infamous 'p@#$!-breath' comment made by the little boy Elliott, played by Henry Thomas. Note to Hollywood: STOP IT ALREADY! I'm not a prude. I don't mind R-rated movies, nudity, or foul language in the right context. I even been known to laugh at potty-humor. But dammit, this time it did not work.
At various times, 50 First Dates touched me in ways that few movies have. The wonderful poignancy of it. The near flawless performance by Drew Barrymore as Lucy made the devotion of her father and brother all the more believable. Adam Sandler, as Henry, has a goofy "everyman" quality to him that works well here. And he and Drew have a kind of quirky chemistry that works. As wildly implausible as the plot sounds on paper, it works too.
I just wish someone had taken a stand during the production of this movie and fixed the 5 minutes that keeps it from being an all-time classic. (Example: Why was it necessary to have Rob Schneider fondle his coconut falsies?)
As Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed it by THAT much!"