Movie Review: 50 First Dates

50 First Dates

I freely confess I'm not an Adam Sandler fan. But I'd seen the previews for 50 First Dates countless times before other movies I was seeing, and the idea grew on me enough to find me buying a ticket for the movie opening weekend.

Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) is a happy, creative, funny, and pretty young woman. Dr. Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) is a commitment-shy veterinarian at a local aquarium. Despite his past history as something of Casanova, Henry falls for Lucy almost at first sight when the two meet by chance at a local restaurant. But the next day when he meets her as scheduled, she acts as if she's never met him before. It turns out that that's because as far as she can remember, she hasn't. The restaurant owners, Nick (Pomai Brown) and Sue (Amy Hill) are quite protective of Lucy, and they explain to Henry that she's a "very special woman." It seems a car accident a year earlier left her brain damaged in such a way that she no longer has any short term memory. While she can remember things and people from before her accident, anything new is lost to her by the next day.

After some thought, Henry decides she's worth the effort despite the obvious drawbacks of such a relationship. He enlists the help of some friends from the aquarium to woo and win Lucy on what is literally a daily basis. His best friend Ula (Rob Schneider) does anything Henry needs him to do on the premise that he - married and with five children - now lives vicariously through Henry. A penguin with a penchant for trouble named Willie, and Jocko, a walrus with a love for practical jokes, join in the effort as well. But Lucy's father, Marlin (Blake Clark) and brother Doug (Sean Astin) aren't sure that Lucy's involvement with Henry is such a good idea, and they're quick to let him know just what they think.

Having been filmed in Hawaii, 50 First Dates offers some spectacular scenery as a backdrop to what might best be called a really sweet comedy. Adam Sandler isn't much of an actor, nor is Rob Schneider (who I know is capable of better from some of his past efforts). But Drew Barrymore is positively ethereal as a character whose innate sweetness and joy in life helps her to live with what is an incredibly debilitating problem. Blake Clark is also quite good, and Sean Astin proves just how good he is with this incredible departure from his utterly believable turn as the hobbit Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings movies. The script, while somewhat predictable, has some very funy moments, and a surprising level of poignancy and drama where the subject matter warrants it. That's somewhat degraded, however, by several scenes where the comedy is so overtly slapstick and immature that it's really just stupid and not very funny at all. Still, 50 First Dates isn't a bad way to spend an evening at the movies, particularly if you've got your own favorite date with you at the time.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: 50 First Dates is rated PG-13 for its "crude sexual humor and drug references." Young kids won't like much of the movie anyway (though they'll doubtless get a big kick out the animals, particularly the walrus). But older kids might actually learn something about the underlying message of the film while the girls sigh over the love story and the boys laugh at the humor. Adults, too, will likely find something to smile about when they watch the film. I can't say I loved 50 First Dates, but I have to admit I liked it, and I suspect that most of you will, too.