Movie review: 50 First Dates

Henry is a complete player until he meets Lucy, with whom he immediately falls in love. After a great day they decide to have a date tomorrow but the next day, Lucy has no clue who he is. That is when Henry finds out Lucy was in a car accident and has no short term memory. Her father, Marlin, and brother, Doug, basically reset everything in their lives every day  so that she can live the same day of her life over and over again without trauma.

Adam Sandler (Henry), Drew Barrymore (Lucy Whitmore), Rob Schneider (Ula), Sean Astin (Doug Whitmore), Dan Aykroyd (Dr. Keats), Blake Clark (Marlin Whitmore).

The summary makes this sound like a drama and complete chick flick (which I guess it is), but it is actually a hysterical comedy. I’m not a huge Sandler fan, he is usually just okay with me, but this film was very funny. Henry trying every day to get Lucy’s attention in unusual ways is great. And when he has to make her actually fall in love with him every day it gets even better.

Schneider is absolutely hilarious as a Hawaiian native, surfer, stoner, father, marine lover and Barrymore actually has pretty good chemistry with Sandler. Astin had me rolling with his lisp and ego. The plot did get a bit slow and more romance or drama focused toward the end but overall this was still a very entertaining movie.

As mentioned, acting was great by everyone. Camera work was well done with good sets and very few special effects. Soundtrack was nicely done with good music, and dialogue was well done.

As with most Sandler films, there is a fair amount of sexual innuendo both visual and verbal and some mild foul language. Preens and above should be fine viewing this one.

Released: 2004
Reviewed: 2.23.16
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Comedy, Romantic Comedy

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