It would have made a better drama

Rating: Null/10 (30 November 2004)

Has anyone seen Groundhog Day? I'm sure Adam Sandler did. What was clever handled there in a montage just could not hold up in the longer form here. The hokey scenes of Sandler trying to get the attention of Drew were just so over-the-top that I was sort of hoping she would just drive on by and not meet him that day. What saved the movie for me was the cuteness of Drew Barrymore, though I still can't see why the Sandler character fell in love with her at first sight. The cute animals, the Rob Schneider fake eye, the man-woman aide at the aquarium...they all were just annoying. But, not as annoying as Sandler himself. He has one expression, and that one is blank. Drew's studio at the hospital looked like a haunted house with all those portraits of him. Still the ending with its schmaltzy introduction to the daughter made me glad I sat through the picture. It would have made a better drama: the struggles of the Drew's father and brother trying to protect her, the emotions Drew's character felt every morning upon waking up and finding so much time had passed, the one scene were they wake up in bed together...that is what should have driven the narrative, and the resolution in Alaska would have been more effective as the tension would finally lift for those around her (they finally solved the problem).