Recommended, especially for fans of Adam Sandler. And Drew Barrymore. And walruses.

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2004)

This review contains the odd spoiler.
If I had to make a list of my favourite movies, "The Wedding Singer" would be there for sure; Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore made such a good team (Barrymore has more chemistry with him than she does with Ben Stiller in "Duplex," which I saw the day before this), it was inevitable that they'd team up again - "50 First Dates" isn't quite as good, but it's no disgrace either. It's also not an all-out laugh riot, but you don't get the idea that was ultimately the aim of writer George Wing and director Peter Segal.
Commitment-phobic Hawaiian marine zoologist Sandler's preference for flings with tourists (Adam Sandler as a woman magnet? Well, it takes all sorts) goes out the window when he sees lovely, likeable Lucy; but he finds out that the woman has short-term memory loss, making it seem as if his usual stance would actually be the best thing this time. Wing's script avoids playing Barrymore's serious plight for major laughs, leaving the humour for Sandler's best friend (a never-more-useless Rob Schneider - many will find the trailer-excerpted scene where she beats him up with a baseball bat to be a highpoint) and for moments like Sandler's sexually indeterminate colleague and a walrus who's almost another friend (if you've ever wanted to see a walrus vomit, here's your chance). They seem to have been added just to reassure people that yes, this IS an Adam Sandler movie.
But the movie's essentially a romantic comedy-drama, and thus more sentimental than gross-out, in spite of Barrymore's lisping steroid-abusing brother (Sean Astin), who's just as willing to help maintain her belief that it's still the day of the accident as her father is. (Incidentally, am I the only one to notice that Anonymous Content did both this and the very different brain-damage-romance "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?) The movie goes for every different variation on its theme, but still seems to go a bit too long - removing the gratuitous gross-out gags might have made a difference to the overall effect - and why are there so many reggae-flavoured songs on the soundtrack for a movie set in the PACIFIC?

All this, however, is forgiven by the end of the movie.
WHICH BRINGS US TO OUR SPOILER.
I have to admit I was really expecting Lucy (Barrymore) to be cured by the end of the movie and live happily ever after with our hero Henry (Sandler). But kudos to writer Wing for having the guts to not go for the easy way out - at the end of the movie Lucy still has amnesia and isn't even beginning to make a recovery (she's dreaming of Henry, but she still has no idea who he is when they meet at the start of each day), and Henry and her family are still taking care of her. But that doesn't mean it isn't a happy ending... I'm not giving away EVERYTHING. Let's just say all compromises should be this effective.
WHICH BRINGS US TO THE END OF OUR SPOILER.
Yes, this isn't as affecting as "Groundhog Day," and yes, it does have some weak plot points - but Sandler will always be more appealing than some of his fellow comedians (imagine if this starred David Spade, and shudder). And how can you not adore Drew in this one?
Plus any movie where a Beach Boys song is crucial to the plot is fine with me.