50 First Dates Review
50 First Dates pulls off a neat little trick. The opening 20 minutes are filled with familiar Adam_Sandler movie bits (walrus puke, sexually ambiguous co-worker, a horny and ethnic Rob_Schneider) that even he seems tired of but knows need to be there for his core audience. In a pleasant surprise, the movie manages to disengage from its autopilot setting once the film's high concept kicks in. The Memento-meets-Groundhog_Day conceit is actually thought out by first-time screenwriter George_Wing. The film actually takes the time to figure out how Drew_Barrymore's inability to make new memories affects those who love her most, and manages to find complications and solutions that are logical and thematically resonant. Director Peter_Segal and Sandler, recognizing that they have been given a charming love story, are confident enough to back away from the more pedestrian moments of outlandishness that open the film. Sandler and Barrymore made a winning duo in The_Wedding_Singer. That film marked the first time Sandler tried to take his film persona in a new direction -- something he attempted more boldly in Paul_Thomas_Anderson's underappreciated Punch-Drunk Love. Sandler obviously learned from his experience on Punch-Drunk Love how his infantile screen persona can be allowed to grow up. With 50 First Dates, he has taken the lessons from that film, and packaged them in a way that his audience can accept. Perry Seibert, Rovi
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