I’m not really sure when it happened and no one is more surprised
than I am, but somewhere along the line I went from despising Adam
Sandler to actually considering myself an Adam Sandler fan. Perhaps
it was “The Wedding Singer” that started this strange
development. Yeah, I think that was it. Then I liked “Little
Nicky” (I watched it again a couple months back and, uh,
I don’t know why I once liked it so much, it is rather stupid,
even for a Sandler flick). Then came “Big Daddy” which
is perhaps my favorite of his comedies. It was cute, it was hilarious
and it was wacky and fun. The same can be said of “Happy Gilmore”
and, from revisiting it, “Billy Madison”. “Mr. Deeds”
was also a lot of fun and had its own goofy sense of atmosphere. And
“Punch-Drunk Love” was an absorbing comedy/drama that
put a whole new spin on the standard Sandler character and put it
in more of a real world situation. Even Sandler detractors were suddenly
looking at him with, well, not really respect but at least a sense
of appreciation for what he is capable of doing. Then came “Anger
Management” which I thought was fairly funny at the time.
In retrospect, however, it’s not all that great. The problem
is, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, it’s like
Sandler has compromised his usual brand of slightly surreal, off-kilter,
proudly moronic humor to a more mainstream sensibility and has, therefore,
taken what makes him so special and compromised it. “The Wedding
Singer” was more straightforward than his usual films, yes,
but it still held a certain undeniable twinkle that was pure Sandler.
The moment where he sings “Love Stinks” at a wedding reception,
for example, is a classic Sandler moment. “Anger
Management” cast him as a straight man, which is a mistake.
With “50 First Dates”, Sandler seems to be working at
a middle ground between the mainstreaming that took place in “Anger
Management” and the hijinks of his earlier films. And, as
a comedy, it isn’t real successful.
But, for a moment, let me sidetrack to the actual plot of this film.
In “50 First Dates”, Sandler plays a guy who is classically
afraid of commitment (as all men are in romantic comedies, so it would
seem). He is so afraid of commitment, in fact, that he only gets involved
with tourists because they’ll be out of town in a week or so.
He is content to keep loving women until they leave and hang out with
the animals at the Sea World-like facility in which he works until,
shock of shocks, he one day meets Drew Barrymore. Drew is a beautiful,
enchanting woman who is just as goofy as Sandler in her own way and
both of them fall almost instantly in love. The only problem is that
Drew cannot form any short term memories because of an automobile
accident. Therefore, she only remembers Adam for one day. The next
day, he has to woo her all over again. In fact, he must win her over
every single day all over again, only to have her forget him as soon
as she goes to sleep. As you can imagine, this is a slight problem.
So, if the comedy only works sporadically in this movie, you may
be wondering why the hell I’m giving it such a high grade. The
answer is simple: the movie doesn’t cop out. The jokes may be
sort of obvious and kinda lame, but the premise is an interesting
one and the movie is smart enough to play it out for all its emotional
and dramatic potential (as well as a few comedic ones that actually
succeed). The movie treats Drew’s ailment seriously (as it should)
and examines the pathos underlying the plight. Drew and Adam make
for an engaging couple (probably because they fit in their own goofball
way) and we care about their love affair and how it will all turn
out. Also, thankfully, I never really knew what was going to happen
next in this film. This is damn near revolutionary in a romantic comedy,
I gotta tell you. I also respected the way this movie did not wrap
everything up in a tidy package at the end. She doesn’t miraculously
get cured. She doesn’t get bonked on the head and go back to
normal. The writing is a lot more interesting than that and the ending
is more of a manner of compromise and magical connection than simple
screenwriter convenience. I respected that a lot. This movie has some
magical moments and some very romantic ones as well. It also has compelling
characters and an undeniable sweetness.
Unfortunately, its jokes are all fairly obvious and the quirky supporting
characters are just a little too quirky to be believable. They just
don’t work all that well, I’m sorry to say, even if the
sight of Sean Astin in a muscle tee shirt with a Sylvester the Cat
lisp is fairly amusing the first couple of times. And the European
quasi-lesbian animal trainer character doesn’t work all that
well at all.
But it’s a sweet little film that is good-natured and genuinely
emotional. And, quite frankly, that’s a bit harder to achieve
than a movie like “Billy Madison”. But, as a bachelor
prone to drinking every weekend, “Billy Madison” and “Happy
Gilmore” are probably going to find their way into my DVD Player
more often.
