50 First Dates Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)February 13th, 2004
"50 First Dates"
Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) is a marine veterinarian working at an ocean park in Hawaii and has real problems making commitments to the women he dates. Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) is a pretty local who has an unusual problem - a year ago, she was in a car accident which caused her to lose short-term memory and she can't remember anything new for more than a day. Henry, when he sees Lucy for the first time, is intrigued and may just change his ways but not before they have "50 First Dates."
Sandler and Barrymore captured our hearts in 1998 with the wonderfully warm-hearted romantic comedy, "The Wedding Singer." Since then, the two have gone their separate ways professionally. But, their chemistry in that film made us cry out for more and they finally get together again with an original screenplay from freshman scribe George Wing. Director Peter Segal has the pleasure of bringing his stars, and their chemistry, together again and the result may well hit the ball out of the park.
The film opens with a bevy of beauties exulting over the great time they had in Hawaii with charming Henry. To avoid committing to any one woman Roth makes up all manners of stories, even claiming to be a secret agent preparing for a dangerous mission. To date he has been successful in his avoidance. Then, he stops at a local breakfast eatery and spies Lucy constructing a teepee from her plate of waffles. Intrigued by the pretty food architect, he strikes up a conversation and the two get along famously. Lucy invites him to join her the next morning for breakfast. Henry leaves, happy in his anticipation of the next day.
The following morning, he shows up at the restaurant and proceeds to pick up where he left off but Lucy doesn't know who the heck he is! After Henry gets shot down, the owner of the restaurant, Sue (Amy Hill), draws him aside and, with a warning tone in her voice, explains that the young woman was in an accident that caused her daily memory loss. The prospect of a relationship that requires no commitment appeals to Henry and he decides to make a fresh play every day for Lucy's affection. There is a price to be paid, though, and Henry finds that he is falling in love with someone who forgets who he is from one day to the next. The challenges that Henry faces is one of the many charms of "50 First Dates."
Adam Sandler is best known for his often mean-spirited and cynical characters as in "Happy Gilmore" and "Big Daddy." He showed us a different face, and a charming one at that, in "The Wedding Singer" and proved that he could carry a romantic lead. It has been eight years since and I, for one, wanted to see Sandler revisit the romantic comedy genre. When I heard of his re-teaming with Drew Barrymore I was hopeful but skeptical - heck, I remember all too well "Little Nicky." I need not have been worried.
The chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore is just as strong and palpable as it was eight years ago. The tag line: "Imagine having to win over the girl of your dreams...every friggin' day!" gives the feel of a typical Adam Sandler film. But, with Barrymore involved, we get a warm and funny romantic comedy that benefits from a number of things. The long awaited reuniting of the stars shows that the chemistry between them was not a one time thing and they play beautifully off of each other. George Wing's screenplay capitalizes on the charm of the stars as, in episodic manner, Henry tries to win anew each day the heart of pretty, brain-damaged Lucy.
As one expects, once Henry learns of Lucy's condition, he becomes obsessed with the challenge of wooing the woman who, from one day to the next, cannot even remember his name. I expected the story to be simply a series of dates with Lucy being "cured" by the love of a good man. Far from it. "50 First Dates" goes beyond the basic idea and brings into play such things as Lucy's father (Blake Clark) and brother (Sean Astin) painstakingly recreate her last day of real memory - and they do it every day. This heartfelt bit of melancholy is just one of the factors that make this a good date flick and beyond. Scripter Wing doesn't cheap out on us, thankfully, and constructs an appealingly different kind of story.
The supporting cast is solid all around. Clark and Astin are credible as father and lisping, muscle-headed, steroid-abusing brother, Doug. Amy Hill puts caring dimension into her character, Sue, as she tries to protect Lucy from emotional harm. Pomaika'i Brown, as Spam and egg slinging cook Nick, generates humor and honest affection for Lucy. Rob Schneider gets the most out of his supporting performance as Ula, Henry's pot smoking native Hawaiian assistant who is always ready to lend his friend advice on matters of love. He has a bunch of kids with Ula being first among equals with his tots. Better still are two non-human characters, Jocko the walrus and Willie the penguin, stealing the show with their anthropomorphic hijinks. A 2000 pound walrus giving a high five is funny stuff.
Techs are sound and the Hawaii locale a beautiful setting for this charmer.
There is something for almost everyone in "50 First Dates" and I recommend it as a first-rate first date flick. I give it a B.
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