Nice film with stunning ending

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2004)

It's been interesting reading the other users' comments on IMDb. A lot of people have their prejudices: "this turns out to be typical Sandler", or, "this is not what we want from Sean Astin", or, "Rob Schneider - yuck!". Seems that many have their own ideas how the film should have been before they see it.
I rarely watch these spongy Hollywood comedy/romances so I had little in the way of expectation (I didn't even know Rob Schneider was in it till I saw the credits at the end, nor did I know that Sean Astin had been in the Lord of the Rings as I have studiously avoided seeing those films). Probably as a result, I thought both Schneider and Astin were great. In fact, Schneider and his kids were hilarious in every scene. The scary thing is, if I'd known it was Rob Schneider beforehand I might have judged him more severely. Don't ask me why, that's psychology folks, but it shows how difficult it is to be objective sometimes, and it certainly paid off to approach the film without any prejudice.
Anyway, the story is engaging enough - it even makes you think a little: what would it really be like to wake up each day and not remember the recent past? You know how sometimes you wake up and wonder where you are (or who you are)?... it's not totally unrealistic (as opposed to Groundhog Day, which was just fantasy) but not totally serious at the same time. Drew's performance - a bit silly, a bit serious - was in perfect balance, and this balance between silly/serious was echoed throughout the whole film quite successfully. Some people have criticised the use of cute animal characters, but Sandler has to play it straight for most of the time, and the animals (plus Schneider) provided the necessary balance. Very nicely done, I would say.
A slight feeling of repetition in the middle is the film's only real flaw, but any weakpoints are forgiven by the time we reach the stunning ending. Stunning is not too strong a word - I don't think anyone was expecting the final scene, in which the story - and Drew - provides a very satisfying, beautiful and thought-provoking moment that will (if you are a person of reasonable sensibility) stick in your mind for some time. This final scene was marvellous in the way it captured and tied up all the elements of the story very quickly and with just a little low-key dialogue - with Drew, in fact (and understandably) being lost for words. To imagine this scene being repeated every day is fairly breathtaking.
Recommended.