50 First Dates

6 July 2004. After a rather lame beginning that reflects the old Adam Sandler's more obnoxious character that he was well noted for, the movie eventually settles down to a rather innovative, creative, entertaining movie that captures the lovely and seasoned acting of Drew Barrymore and a maturing comedian Adam Sandler. While not much in the way of character depth nor real substance, this lightweight but clever movie plays on Groundhog Day and other Momento devices that contribute to a rather fun and enjoyable movie.

Hopefully Drew will begin to expand on her future roles and Adam will begin to enter into a Tom Hanks, Robin Williams maturity phase that will really demonstrate what Adam is made of.

Henry Roth is a man afraid of commitment up until he meets the beautiful Lucy. They hit it off and Henry think he's finally found the girl of his dreams, until he discovers she has short-term memory loss and forgets him the very next day.

At first, I just liked some of the usual humor: the use of spam to make me believe we were really in Hawaii. And also Rob Schneider, who is often the funniest person in Sandler's films. (He is still good here, though perhaps not at his best.)

I was pleasantly surprised that amidst the stupid humor was an actual story about love and the growing bond of two people. There could have been a variety of "Groundhog Day" jokes. And indeed, there were some. But the character Sandler plays is actually quite sweet. Who knew?

Okay, so "50 First Dates" is mostly silly, but they do a good job with it. Honolulu veterinarian Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) falls for Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore), only to find out that, due to an accident, her memory only lasts one day, so she won't remember him the next day! How will Henry cope with this? The movie gravitates between goofy and sensitive, but never gets mind-numbing; Adam Sandler always has something up his sleeve, and he and Barrymore have a great time with the material. As is often the case in Adam Sandler's movies, one of the characters is an embarrassment to everyone else (in this case, it's Rob Schneider as Henry's whacked-out friend Ula). Great fun.

Oh, and one more thing: don't watch "50 First Dates" if you haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" first.

See, I am a married man. And watching this movie, at home on the sofa with my wife whom I love above anything and hopefully always will, almost brought me to tears and easily did her. This movie, no matter all the overdone/overacted characters and the fact that Adam Sandler is probably the worst person in the world the act crying, is simply the best description of love ever. To have the energy to every day win over the heart of the one you love, is what we all should do, though ever so often don't have the energy to.

I believe that movie criticism often nitpicks too much on technical details or other such stuff of -actually- little importance. Show me a person who is not moved by this film and I show you a person who knows zip about real love. Real, I mean. I am not a religious person and this made me feel closer to what people often call God, whatever that is. Maybe I exaggerate, but I want to. And no work of art, of any genre, can be asked to do any more. On scale of 1 to 10, this goes to 11. (Can you see?!)

Not being an Adam Sandler fan, we avoided this film when it was released earlier last year. The premise sounded too much like "Groundhog Day". We took a chance the other night when it was shown on cable, and frankly, we found the movie entertaining. There are more laughs in this than in another, perhaps more pretentious picture, "Punch Drunk Love".

Drew Barrymore and Mr. Sandler had worked together before to surprisingly good results. They show an easy chemistry between them that serves the movie well. The idea of making Adam Sandler an aquarium doctor offers a lot of possibilities; his scenes with the walrus are hilarious.

The supporting cast plays well together. A surprise was Rob Schneider, not one of my favorite actors, either, but in here, under the direction of Peter Segal, he delivers. Sean Astin, as the lisping brother on steroids is quite effective, as well as Blake Clark, as Lucy's father. Dan Aykroyd puts an appearance as the doctor who treats the young woman who has lost her long term memory.

Watch it without any preconceptions, as probably it will surprise you.