50 First Dates

Review by Jason Gaston

While I think that Adam Sandler is a funny man, his movies have been quite inconsistent. You’ve got the genius that was Happy Gilmore and Punch Drunk Love, and then you have the unadulterated crap that is Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, and Eight Crazy Nights to stuff that is simply average like The Waterboy and Anger Management. It’s frustrating because, watching Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, you can tell that the greatness is there, but it never comes out or is realized to its full potential mainly because of some god-awful scripts.

That’s why I have a glimmer of hope for all of you who, like myself, enjoy Adam Sandler movies and aren’t afraid to admit it. His newest movie, 50 First Dates, is not only funny… but it’s actually a good movie in itself. While being funny, it’s also touching, engaging, and fun to watch all while throwing in the prerequisite potty humor you’ve come to expect and, even with all that… it has a pair of characters that make the whole thing a pleasant experience.

Sandler plays Henry Roth, a vet in Hawaii who enjoys the freedom of not being nailed down by a relationship, which is why he likes nailing the female tourists who visit the islands only to leave and never come back. Life is obviously good until Henry wanders into an out of the way diner, meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore), and falls head over heels in love with her. The trouble is, Lucy has brain damage and is unable to make new long-term memories, her short term memories getting wiped clean as she sleeps. Therefore, she looses her memories every night… forgetting Henry completely. So, how do you maintain a relationship with a woman who forgets who you are every night?

The situation sounds corny, but 50 First Dates handles it nicely making Lucy an object of sympathy instead of something to be made fun of. The greatest thing that 50 First Dates did for its characters is to humanize them and make them people we care about. No caricatures like Little Nicky, Longfellow Deeds, or Bobby Boucher... Lucy, and even Lucy’s family are people that we like… even if Lucy’s brother, played by a surprisingly buff Sean Astin (Samwise? What happened to you!?) is the only real caricature and, thus, the most annoying of the bunch.

Of course the humor is there… mostly its cheap potty humor, but that’s not what makes this movie enjoyable (yeah, okay… it does help but mostly because its kept in check). What does make 50 First Dates a nice 90 minutes is the unusual love story, the chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore, and the enjoyable characters.

50 First Dates doesn’t take the easy and expected route by making merciless fun of Lucy, rather makes her someone to pity… and yet not to pity. In many ways, as she rediscovers her life every day she wakes up, this movie almost makes you envy her wide-eyed discovery. There’s something of a magical element to this movie and yet, it’s a little heartbreaking at the same time.

And, of course… Adam Sandler is kept reigned in making his character less of a hothead and more of a nice guy.

A lot of people may dismiss this movie off hand simply because it’s an Adam Sandler vehicle, but I found it to be his best movie since Happy Gilmore and his most quietly touching since Punch Drunk Love. This isn’t a great movie, but it borders on greatness. Sandler should make more movies with Drew Barrymore. She appears to be a good luck charm for him.