Product: 50 First Dates (Widescreen Special Edition) (2004)
Rating: 3.0
unofficial "Wedding Singer" sequel
Across the US, attractive young women are returning from their Hawaiian vacations with the same general idea - they met a great guy named Henry Roth. He was mysterious, fun, but always what they wanted. But he would always have to disappear when the vacation was over. It turns out that Roth is really Adam Sandler - or Sandler is Roth - a vet at a Hawaiian aquarium who fears commitment with any woman, but is not averse having a week of fun. Roth is a fun and loveable knucklehead - in other words, he really is Adam Sandler. Unlike the knucklehead of the "Wedding Singer" (which this flick resembles because Sandler turns up the charm, and also because Drew Barrymore is back) Roth fears being tied down (in WS, he dreamt of nothing more than finding the perfect woman for the perfect song). A committed vet, Roth plans on an extended voyage to study walruses in the north Pacific - plans that have no room for girlfriends or (gulp) a wife! Plans change when he meets the lovely Lucy (Barrymore) on a chance encounter in a café. At first they hit it off, and Lucy becomes his dream girl. Then the dream turns dark, and Roth learns that he has to keep hitting it off with her. Seems that Lucy was involved in a car accident which totaled her ability to convert short term memory into long-term memory. Thus, every day for Lucy starts off as a repeat of the day of the accident. While the world passes her by, Lucy blissfully relives an idle Sunday in the idyllic Hawaiian paradise. Worming his way past a circle of friends determined to shield Lucy, Roth finds that even succeeding at love with Lucy has its challenges (especially when, ala "Groundhogs Day" she forgets yesterday's tenderness). Will Roth persevere? Will he somehow find a way to unlock Lucy's heart despite a condition considered incurable. More to the point, will how much fun can a flick have with catastrophic and irreversible brain damage?"Dates" excels improbably. It's a lot of fun, yet tender and yet (biggest surprise) actually brings out the pathos of Barrymore's condition. It's not a laugh-riot that will split your sides as one where you'll always have a laugh. Mostly, "Dates" excels because Sandler is democratic enough to parcel out the jokes - to Rob Schneider as an amiable crackpot who hangs out at the aquarium; Sean Astin as Barrymore's steroid-addled brother; to various characters who populate the dreamy Hawaiian landscape and to the animal characters who get most of Roth's lavish attention.