Clever Existential Romantic Comedy

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2016)

What would happen if you met a soul-mate by accident in a café, hit it off really well, made a date for the next day, and then, when you met her, you notice that she does not remember you at all? This happens to Henry (Adam Sandler), who is completely confused until the café owner pulls him aside and lets him know that Lucy (Drew Barrymore), the girl in question, has brain damage from an auto accident which causes her short term memory to be erased every time she goes to sleep for the night. Henry is discouraged to realize that, if he wants to get to know Lucy, he has to hook up with her fresh every day, and on a bet with one of the cooks in the café, he does this until he realizes something extraordinary is happening--he is falling in love.
Enter a premise for a romantic comedy that seems a little weak on the surface, but actually turns out to have a lot behind it. The idea is clearly inspired by the now classic Groundhog Day, with its notion of an endless existential loop, and actually asks the question of whether a person can somehow manage to develop a coherent existence if they have to start fresh every day. Henry and Lucy recreate their relationship every day, and the question is whether it can possibly last.
The film is fun--not only because of the performances of the leads, but also a set of supporting characters who clearly are up for the situation. Sandler gives a really good performance--the irony of his character is that before the relationship, he has a phobia about commitment, and once he has met a woman for whom this is not an issue, he actually wishes more and more that he can have a long-term relationship. The relationship actually goes through the normal phases--getting more and more serious as time goes on, with Sandler with the aid of Lucy's family finding more and more ingenious ways to reacquaint Lucy very quickly with the specifics of her life each day. Can it work? Obviously you need to see the movie to find out.