I suppose 50 First Dates is as good a title as any for this Adam Sandler romantic comedy, given that Four or Five Laughs, A Dozen Offensive Stereotypes and 50 Long Yawns weren’t likely to get studio approval. Yes, Adam Sandler has done it – reunited with Drew Barrymore in an effort to combine the sweetness of their previous pairing in The Wedding Singer with the juvenile humour of Little Nicky. The result is neither sweet nor particularly funny. This is Groundhog Day without the laughs, a lame comedy with all the romantic heat of an ice floe.
Sandler plays likeable Henry Roth, a veterinarian at a Hawaii aquarium who appears to have enough time on his hands to spend all day every day pursuing his love interest, Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore). In a flight of fancy reminiscent of Woody Allen at his most self aggrandizing, we first see Sandler playing an amazing Don Juan, sweeping countless women off their feet during one-week flings from which he always escapes as the women head home to the mainland, and Henry heads off to find another woman. The commitment-phobe is finally harpooned in the heart by sweet Lucy, who builds tepees and log cabins from waffles at a diner, and who unfortunately, upon falling asleep each night, forgets about everything that’s happened since a car accident several months earlier. Henry attempts to sweep Lucy off her feet anew every morning, as her father, brother and supportive friends allow Lucy to think that only one day has passed since her last memory.
Groundhog Day took the ‘reply the same day over and over again’ premise and made it work; 50 First Dates takes it and puts us to sleep. The main problem is that this just isn’t a funny script. Add to that the fact that Sandler and Barrymore’s chemistry is virtually non-existent, and you’re left not even worrying too much about the juvenile humour first-time screenwriter George Wing has attempted to insert along the way. There are plenty of objectionable stereotypes – including body builders, and particularly the head-injured, but far and away the most irritating is Rob Schneider’s take on a pot-head slacker native Hawaiian. I’m not sure why he got away playing this obnoxious racial stereotype – if he’d been portrayed as any of several other races, I’m sure this movie would have been pilloried. But even if you don’t care about so-called political correctness, you’re not likely to find this character – or this movie – very funny at all.
While The Wedding Singer wins us over with charm, this second try by Sandler and Barrymore just doesn’t deliver the goods. Yes, they’re both good natured, but there’s no spark between them whatsoever, and it’s hard to imagine her taking to him on a daily basis, or him feeling compelled to keep coming back for more of the waffle construction project. The supporting players don’t add particularly to things. I’ve already mentioned Schnieder’s unfortunate involvement, but Dan Ackroyd, Sean Astin and Lusia Strus – as a stereotypical Eastern European asexual freak – also do forgettable work in thankless roles.
If you like romantic comedy, you’ll almost certainly find 50 First Dates lukewarm or considerably cooler. If you like Sandler gross-out comedy, you’ll find only bits and pieces of bathroom humour to keep you going. It’s a throw-away comedy that’s a lose-lose proposition for everyone.
Brian Webster
1. Hold Me Now - Wayne Wonder
2. Love Song - 311
3. Lips Like Sugar - Seal/Mikey Dread
4. Your Love - Wyclef Jean/Eve (L.O.V.E Reggae mix)
5. Drive - Ziggy Marley
6. True - Will.I.AM And Fergie
7. Slave To Love - Elan Atias
8. Every Breath You Take - UB40
9. Ghost In You, The - Mark McGrath
10. Friday, I'm In Love - Dryden Mitchell
11. Breakfast In Bed - Nicole Kea
12. I Melt With You - Jason Mraz
13. Forgetful Lucy - Adam Sandler
50 First Dates
