Posted: 02/23/2004

50 First Dates

(2003)

by Clint Fletcher

I must start off by saying that I’m a huge Sandler fan. But sadly, as many of you have probably noticed, Adam Sandler comedies have gone downhill over the years. Once a great production company (Happy Madison Productions) that churned out one hit after the other, has now been diminished to generic crap. The new millennium looked promising, with a hell of a closing to the last decade with The Waterboy and The Wedding Singer. But as soon as 2000 kicked in, we got buried with horseshit like Little Nicky and Eight Crazy Nights. And I’m not even going to touch Punch Drunk Love…

Has Sandler lost his touch?

50 First Dates is the year’s first great comedic idea for a screenplay. But keep in mind that last year’s best comedic concept was Boat Trip, and we all saw how that one turned out (actually most of us didn’t). Sandler stars as Henry Roth, and no, the name relation to the great author of the same name is never addressed in the film. To keep a long story short, Roth is a player. He lies to women who visit his home state of Hawaii for vacation, then as soon as they return home, he lies again to get out of a long term relationship. Then comes Lucy (cutie pie Drew Barrymore). For some strange reason, Henry takes a different kind of notice to Lucy than with other girls. After a day of wonderful chatting, Henry soon learns the truth that Lucy was in a car accident a year ago and every night when she goes to sleep, he short- term memory is erased. Her long term memory only reaches the day of the accident, so every morning that she wakes up, she believes it IS the day of the accident. Her father and brother reenact the same day over and over again to spare her from emotional stress. Henry comes along and screws all that up.

So what exactly is wrong with 50 First Dates? Its actually quite a complicated situation: its not funny. Much like other comedies out today, this film seems like it doesn’t even attempt to be funny. Instead, it seems to create its own genre somewhere in between drama and comedy. Or maybe its just that the same old gags that the Sandler crew pulls just aren’t funny anymore. Of course we can’t get through one of his films without the traditional Rob Schneider cameo, but in this case, he is upgraded to supporting role status. Other gross jokes include sea animals vomiting on people, a she-man co-assistant to dump all the gender gags on, and a lisp-speaking, steroid-popping Sean Astin, who plays Lucy’s overprotective brother. With the exception of Astin’s character, all these jokes feel painfully stale, and the first half-hour of this puppy is pure torture. But as the movie dives into the second act, it also dives into “romance” territory. 50 First Dates may not be funny, but it sure is a cute love story. It is quite humorous watching Sandler come up with different ways to woo Lucy into falling in love with him. Downright hilarious moments worth mentioning include Lucy beating down Schneider with a baseball bat because she thinks he’s attacking Henry, and Henry crying hysterically at a café because he claims he can’t read. I must also applaud the film’s most respected aspect: the ending. After seeing the trailer, most of us could probably figure out how it was going to end by following the traditional Hollywood cliche of dealing with character/memory issues. Well I have news for you… this movie does not end the way you think it does. Not only is the ending surprising, its actually quite refreshing, and adds a lovely twist to the finale of this love story

So what is the biggest problem behind this film? We all know that in reality, Sandler is a truly nice guy. This is also creating his downfall. See, Sandler goes off and finds first-time writers to write for his company so that he can give them a shot in the biz. While this is truly thoughtful, it is also a truly bad idea. Comedy writers need experience, and with the exception of a few flukes, these past few Happy Madison movies have been absolutely wretched.

If you want big laughs, go rent Billy Madison. Or better yet, get really f***ing drunk and watch Punch Drunk Love. But if you’re a big fan of Drew Barrymore and cute romantic situations, then take a chance at 50 First Dates.

PS: Girls will LOVE this movie.

Clint Fletcher is a Chicago writer, filmmaker, and actor.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com