50 First Dates

Comedy, Romance

Adam Sandler	Henry Roth
Drew Barrymore	Lucy Whitmore
Rob Schneider	Ula
Sean Astin	Doug Whitmore
Lusia Strus	Alexa
Dan Aykroyd	Dr. Keats
Amy Hill	Sue
Allen Covert	Ten Second Tom
Blake Clark	Marlin Whitmore
Maya Rudolph	Stacy

Director	Peter Segal
Producer	Scott Bankston; Michael Ewing; Jack Giarraputo; Steve Golin
Writer	George Wing

With generous amounts of good luck and good timing, 50 First Dates set an all-time box-office record for the opening weekend of a romantic comedy; whether it deserved such a bonanza is another issue altogether. It's a sweet-natured vehicle for sweet-natured stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, and their track record with The Wedding Singer no doubt factors in its lowbrow appeal. But while the well-matched lovebirds wrestle with a gimmicky plot (she has no short-term memory, so he has to treat every encounter as their first), director Peter Segal (who directed Sandler in Anger Management) ignores the intriguing potential of their predicament (think Memento meets Groundhog Day) and peppers the proceedings with the kind of juvenile humor that Sandler fans have come to expect. The movie sneaks in a few heartfelt moments amidst its inviting Hawaiian locations, and that trained walrus is charmingly impressive, but you can't quite shake the feeling that too many good opportunities were squandered in favor of easy laughs. Like Barrymore's character, you might find yourself forgetting this movie shortly after you've seen it. --Jeff Shannon