50 First Dates (2004)

 50 First Dates (2004)

 

7/10

Starring

Adam Sandler

Drew Barrymore

Rob Schneider

Sean Astin

Dan Aykroyd

 

Directed by Peter Segal

 

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore were the wonderful couple from The Wedding Singer (1998), and seeing them come together for this film again, I knew back then in Uni I had to see it. I recall owning the DVD for this movie and watching it over and over again. I never got tired of seeing Sandler’s character, Henry, try daily to make Lucy (Barrymore) fall in love with him every day. The complexity this would take for any man is removed from this movie, and it just coasts on the idea of a fun romantic comedy about a man hooked on a girl who cannot remember who he is the next day.

The movie’s use of humor had me laughing and smiling. We don’t get such humor any more these days, as the politically correct crew will come after anyone who makes fat jokes, criticizes long-term commitment, or makes drug use jokes. These were the golden times when jokes were just seen as jokes.

The movie explores the life of a lady, Lucy, who suffered brain damage. She has some sort of amnesia, which makes it impossible for her to retain short-term memory. Everything to Lucy stopped on the day of her accident, and she relives that same day every day. The movie has a sense of Groundhog Day (Bill Murray), with the complexity removed. This is a more easygoing and funnier version of Groundhog Day.

Here’s where Henry comes in. He sees Lucy at a diner and approaches her. They hit it off, had a beautiful breakfast together, and were supposed to meet again for another. He shows up the next day, and she does not know who he is and is upset that he’s coming onto her.

Henry is brought up to speed on what happened to Lucy, and instead of turning away, he likes the challenge and tries daily to get her attention but fails many times. Until he decides to stop trying to do it the easy way and comes up with more complex rules to get her attention. This works, and they start a funny relationship.

Things get difficult for them, and the movie takes us through this difficulty when you start to believe that, one day, at least once, she will wake up and remember who he is.

The movie was a box office success back in 2004, and it’s a keeper. I know in the future I will again go searching for where I can sit down and rewatch Sandler and Barrymore play love mates again. She, to me, has been the best on-screen couple pairing he has had so far in his career.