So close and yet so far. 50 First Dates is a movie that works and doesn't work at the same time. It is badly disjointed, making it impossible for it to thoroughly succeed, even when it contains moments of greatness.
The movie starts by quickly and effectively establishing Adam Sandler's character, Henry Roth. He is a veterinarian at a Sea World type park in Hawaii. He is massively phobic about commitment and thus has fashioned a life which consists of endless week long flings with tourist women. His friends seem limited to a walrus, penguin, the pool cleaner and an assistant of ambiguous sexual determination.
His life changes suddenly when he meets local woman Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) and is instantly smitten. They have a great meet cute and the stage seems set for a great romance. One problem. Lucy has no short term memory due to a bad car accident a year earlier. When she goes to sleep she forgets everything that has happened to her since that accident. So when Henry shows up for a second date, she has no idea who he is and is put off by his forward advance.
Lucy has a devoted family and friends who go way out of their way to make her life as comfortable as possible despite her affliction. They react to Henry with considerable suspicion and hostility. Eventually though, he wins them over with his relentless and innovative methods for rekindling their love on a daily basis.
In previous reviews of Adam Sandler movies, I have often pointed out that his characters are a mix of sensitivity and hostility and that with time, the hostility has diminished. With this movie, he leaves that hostility almost entirely behind. It's rather refresshing to see him on an even keel for an entire movie. There may be hope yet for him as an actor. He and Barrymore have a natural chemistry that has been previously utilized in The Wedding Singer. Here it is better supported by a more thoughtful script.
It could be a more thoughtful script though. It starts out like a typical Sandler movie with a healthy dose of misogyny, abusiveness and walrus vomit. It sets us up to think of this as a mean spirited comedy. But halfway through, the tone takes a very sudden shift toward something much more serious. There is a scene where Lucy is giving a jolting reminder of her existence by a videotape Henry has made for her. The expressions that pass over Barrymore's face convey the depth of horror and depression that the character is feeling. It's a great moment, but what passed through my mind just then was to lament that they hadn't started off by taking the characters seriously. Then we would be prepared for such a scene which instead feels horribly disjointed from the movie up until that point. After that point the movie plays it fairly straight. If it had played it straight all the way through, I'd be calling this one of the best romantic comedies of all time. Instead it ranks a bit better than average.
The movie mixes equal parts Memento and Groundhog Day with the sensibility of Happy Gilmore. It is nowhere near as ambitious or confident as those first two films but none the less pushes forward beyond what we have any business expecting of it. What sets this movie apart from other Sandler vehicles is a genuine affection for the characters. In that respect it most resembles the work of the Farrelly brothers in movies like There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal. It acknowledges characters' shortcomings but not cruelly, finding laughs while still maintaining sympathy.
Oh, and the walrus is startlingly charming when not projectile vomiting.
- John Shea
Related Items:
|
