Les 50 premiers rendez-vous

Okay, so "50 First Dates" is mostly silly, but they do a good job with it. Honolulu veterinarian Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) falls for Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore), only to find out that, due to an accident, her memory only lasts one day, so she won't remember him the next day! How will Henry cope with this? The movie gravitates between goofy and sensitive, but never gets mind-numbing; Adam Sandler always has something up his sleeve, and he and Barrymore have a great time with the material. As is often the case in Adam Sandler's movies, one of the characters is an embarrassment to everyone else (in this case, it's Rob Schneider as Henry's whacked-out friend Ula). Great fun.

Oh, and one more thing: don't watch "50 First Dates" if you haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" first.

Not being an Adam Sandler fan, we avoided this film when it was released earlier last year. The premise sounded too much like "Groundhog Day". We took a chance the other night when it was shown on cable, and frankly, we found the movie entertaining. There are more laughs in this than in another, perhaps more pretentious picture, "Punch Drunk Love".

Drew Barrymore and Mr. Sandler had worked together before to surprisingly good results. They show an easy chemistry between them that serves the movie well. The idea of making Adam Sandler an aquarium doctor offers a lot of possibilities; his scenes with the walrus are hilarious.

The supporting cast plays well together. A surprise was Rob Schneider, not one of my favorite actors, either, but in here, under the direction of Peter Segal, he delivers. Sean Astin, as the lisping brother on steroids is quite effective, as well as Blake Clark, as Lucy's father. Dan Aykroyd puts an appearance as the doctor who treats the young woman who has lost her long term memory.

Watch it without any preconceptions, as probably it will surprise you.

See, I am a married man. And watching this movie, at home on the sofa with my wife whom I love above anything and hopefully always will, almost brought me to tears and easily did her. This movie, no matter all the overdone/overacted characters and the fact that Adam Sandler is probably the worst person in the world the act crying, is simply the best description of love ever. To have the energy to every day win over the heart of the one you love, is what we all should do, though ever so often don't have the energy to.

I believe that movie criticism often nitpicks too much on technical details or other such stuff of -actually- little importance. Show me a person who is not moved by this film and I show you a person who knows zip about real love. Real, I mean. I am not a religious person and this made me feel closer to what people often call God, whatever that is. Maybe I exaggerate, but I want to. And no work of art, of any genre, can be asked to do any more. On scale of 1 to 10, this goes to 11. (Can you see?!)

50 First Dates is a very funny movie and for Sandler its one of his best. Adam Sandler plays Henry Roth, a womanizing marine biologist afraid to commit, who falls for the woman of his dreams, played by Drew Barrymore. Unfortunately, she has a brain disorder that makes her forget everything that happened the day before whenever she falls asleep, so every day, he needs to win her over and make her fall in love with him anew. The plot is nothing new as this movie is a cross between Memento and Groundhog Day both very good movies. What makes this movie work is the chemistry between Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler since they work so great together and make the film fun and also this film is better then Sandler's last effort Anger Management. Sandler is great in this film and he is one of the funniest comedians around today. Drew Barrymore is very good in her role as Lucy and she makes up for the horrible Duplex. The supporting cast is also very good with the best being Sean Austin. Rob Schneider has a small role in this film but he still manages to draw some laughs. The last main part of the cast is Dan Aykroyd and his role isn't very memorable. This movie has good intentions and some sad moments like when Lucy finds out she can never have her memory restored or when she sees pictures of herself from the accident. However, there's also some gross humor so I think this movie can appeal to everyone under the age of 21. Rating 8/10 one of the funniest movies of the year and a must see if you want a good comedy.

When "50 First Dates) came to theaters, I really wasn't interested enough to go see it. When it came out on video, I waited about 2 months to see it until it came down to the $1.99 rental price.

Was I surprised! This movie was so entertaining to me, that I wound up buying it. I only buy about 5 or 6 videos a year, so you can see that I really must have enjoyed it. It won't win any Oscars, but it will make you feel good when you watch it.

I am familiar with the condition that Lucy has here having a cousin who has a similar problem and has had it for several years. I was really concerned with how a production company can play a condition like that for laughs, but, somehow, they pulled it off. They treated the subject matter with dignity showing that the people who have this terrible condition can (and do) have somewhat normal lives. My cousin does it the diary way. She doesn't lose her memory everyday, but at different times. She has gone as long as 3 months in retaining her memory and has lost it on other occasions after 4 hours.

I am not a big Adam Sandler fan, having always thought he was a bit "over the top" in his other films. I thought he was going to do this in this film as well after the first few minutes of the movie. However, when he is shown in the diner with Lucy, he shows that he is really a nice guy who, deep down, wants to find a relationship that is fulfilling with a pretty girl.

Drew Berrymore is another actress that I don't particularly care for most of the time, but she is really a sweetheart playing Lucy. She is just so lovable in this role, it's hard to believe that she has the Demons in her past.

Rob Schneider is very good in his supporting role as is Sean Astin as Doug, the 'roid raging brother of Lucy.

Again, not an Oscar winner, but well worth the $15 or so to purchase it at WalMart.

Marty