Genres: Comedy Romance  

50 First Dates

 

Review by Joseph M. Davis
for Reel Movie Critic

H H

Cast

Drew Barrymore

                 Lucy Whitmore
Adam Sandler

Henry Roth

Rob Schneider

                 Ula

Directed by Peter Segal. Comedy. Rated PG-13 (for drug and crude sexual references). Columbia Pictures. Running time 96 minutes.

Not worth the first date

Drew Barrymore is a young woman who suffers from severe short-term memory loss in this forgettable film. Adam Sandler is an aquarium veterinarian, who must win her heart each and every day due to her affliction.

So how funny is it? Walk. Don’t run to your local theater. While the film has some funny moments, most of them have been already shown in an assault of previews for the film, making it extremely predictable. While Drew Barrymore does exude a certain charm, many of the characters come across as ridiculously underdeveloped or in some cases just plain weird. Rob Schneider, as Ula, is a Hawaiian bum who is a friend of Henry’s. He is blind in one eye, has a shark bite in his torso, is missing a finger and for some unexplained reason has five kids that follow him around everywhere he goes. Oddly, he speaks with a bad Hispanic accent that makes him seem a lot more like a bad impersonation of Cheech Marin.

Another character that isn’t funny is Sandler's Russian veterinarian assistant, whose lame attempts at slapstick comedy at the beginning of the film are just sad. And there is a running joke throughout the film about her being androgynous, which is also poorly delivered and I’m sure will not sit well with Eastern European viewers.

The film gets tolerable at times, as when Sandler wins the hearts of Barrymore’s family. But because director Peter Segal can’t decide if he’s trying to do a comedy or drama it dissolves into other forgettable Saturday Night Live alumnus B movie. Unfortunately this has nowhere near the laughs of "Tommy Boy."

At the beginning of the film Sandler tells an absolutely stunning woman in a peek-a-boo tee shirt that he’s a secret agent and must leave the country on a mission. This he does, supposedly, after he seduces her. He even jumps onto a moving jet ski to get away from her quickly. Problem is that the actress playing the woman is so beautiful that Sandler trying to ditch her isn’t believable in the least, and that kind of sets the weak tone for the rest of the film. This is a movie that you may not hate but you’ll never remember it in 10 years either.

Joseph M. Davis © 2004

joseph@reelmoviecritic.com