Product: 50 First Dates (Widescreen Special Edition) (2004)
Rating: 4.0
"Forgetful Lucy... cracked your head like Gary Busey."
50 FIRST DATES is one of Adam Sandler's sweetest comedies and Drew Barrymore's presence has got a lot to do with that. The story is set in Hawaii, so plenty of those nice, evocative sunsets. Barrymore is Lucy Whitmore, a cheerful art teacher whose automobile accident severely damages her temporal lobe, this causing her to relive the same day over and over (think of it as a less wintry GROUNDHOG DAY). Blake Clark and Sean Astin are terrific as, respectively, her father and brother, who sacrifice their lives to play along, resetting things at the end of every damn night, so that Lucy's life is made as uncomplicated as possible. No surprises for Lucy, goes the mandate. She wakes up to the same day, which is her father's birthday. But what's fair, really? And how do you toe that moral line between easing a devastating trauma and outright living a lie?In steps Henry Roth, womanizing feller and yet sympathetic. Henry is a marine-life vet working at an aquatic park which means we're privy to amusing animal shenanigans with the walrus and the dolphins and such. Adam Sandler plays Henry as quite likable and I even buy that he falls so hard for Lucy that he foregoes his lecherous, commitment-phobic ways. And what strikes a girl's fancy swifter than the notion of a guy having to win the same girl every day all over again. As for the tone of the film, it's not as much that Sandler's leaning for crude frat-boy humor is toned down as much as it's mitigated by an underpinning of warmth. And, really, put that down to Drew Barrymore. As in THE WEDDING SINGER, Sandler and the marvelously expressive Barrymore demonstrate an irresistible chemistry. These two make a fun, fun couple.Thing is, I'm still the kind of guy who busts a gut at sophomoric gags. I think Rob Scneider is awesome as Ula, Henry's good-natured but pretty messed-up assistant; he provides plenty of the belly laughs. Surprisingly, Sean Astin, not exactly acclaimed for the funny, is hilarious as Lucy's roided-up brother. Throw in Sandler's sweet "Forgetful Lucy" song and a great surprise ending, and 50 FIRST DATES crosses off key items on the checklist: a head-turning premise; a terrific cast; a winning romance; a touch of heartbreak; a picturesque tropical setting; and laugh-out-loud humor. And then there's Ten Second Tom. And you thought Lucy's plight was horrible...