I can't wait to watch 'Phantom of the Opera' and I'm not even really into musicals!
I can't wait to watch 'Phantom of the Opera' and I'm not even really into musicals!
Member since:29.12.2002
Reviews:19
Members who trust:37
~~~PLOT~~~ Henry Roth (ADAM SANDLER) is a veterinarian at Hawaii's Sea Life Park, where he looks after walruses and ribs his gender ambiguous colleague, Alexa (LUSIA STRUS). Henry, is popular with the pretty holidaying tourists and has plenty of brief flings but doesn’t commit because of his 10 year plan to study the underwater life of walruses in Alaska. Then one day, when his boat test for his Walruses project goes wrong, it leads him to Hukilau, a quiet café run by waitress Sue (AMY HILL) and cook Nick (NEPHI POMAIKAI BROWN). There, he is enthralled by pretty Lucy Whitmore (DREW BARRYMORE) who's contently creating pyramids with her breakfast waffles. The two have an instant connection and chat about fish and waffles (Lucy even delights in sniffing his fish smelling hands). The pair make a date to meet the next morning for breakfast. But the next day she doesn't recognize him. Sue tells Henry that Lucy suffered a brain injury about a year ago (car accident) that left her long term memories intact, but has made her unable to retain any short-term ones. Every day, Lucy only recalls October 13th to Lucy, the day before her accident. And her loving father Marlin and brother Doug help keep up this pretence by recreating the same day for her. Henry is still attracted to her though despite Marlin and Doug’s warnings and he tries different ploys every day in order to make Lucy fall in love with him again and again and…again! But can Henry get Lucy to remember?
Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Rob Scneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Dan Aykroyd, Amy Hill, Allen Covert, Blake Clark, Maya Rudolph, Pomaika'I Brown, Joe Nakashima, Peter Dante, Dom Magwili, Jonathan Loughran
Director: Peter Segal and written by George
Wing.
Running Time: 99 minutes 12A (Contains moderate sex references and drug use)
~~~ACTING~~~ Having seen the trailer for ‘50 First Dates’ a few times, I was quite excited about watching the “egg headed” Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore romatically paired again. The pair were such fun to watch in the hit, ‘The Wedding Singer’, that its quite fitting to see them together again. Only this time, we see them on the lush Hawaiin island, O'ahu. Not normally a keen fan of Adam Sandler I must say I was pleasantly surprised by his performance in ‘Dates’ , in which he is more sensitive and romantic (yes, that’s right!). Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a cross between ‘Mememto’ or ‘Groudhog day’. The film has its own unique story with a perfect casting. Sandler, is charming without the usual barrage of shtick and woos Lucy with tender tenacity. But it is funny seeing him sing “forgetful Lucy” to her while on a beautiful beach. Drew and Sandler have a sweet connection that allows the romance to flow smoothly and leaves the audience in no doubt of their pairing. Drew remarkably manages to carry off, the sweet girl and the tough feistiness all in one role. One of most funniest scenes shows how Henry in an attempt to get Lucy to notice him, has his best friend, Ula (Rob Schneider) fake hes beating him up. Lucy then drives up, gets out hits Ula (ouch) hard with a bat and continues to this running after him down the hill. Despite displaying similar acting to previous roles (Ever After), Drew still pulls off the role of charming, fun-loving, Art teacher Lucy. She portrays her memory-imparity, with a triumphant range of emotions, from forlornness and anger to fearless spirit. I can’t think of any other actress who would have performed, Lucy so credibly. Thanks to Drew and Adam’s easygoing connection, by the end of the film I actually cared about the two characters.
The icing on the cake is the supporting cast, who do a brilliant job of propping the film with humour and a touch of depth. Rob Schneider, as Henry’s best friend Ula does a hilarious turn as a native Hawaiian with like 5-7 children, one milky white eye and a painful and funny relationship with sharks. (he has a shark wound that gets stitched up by Henry and then reopens with more shark bites). Astin plays Lucy's brother, a lisping, steroid obsessive weightlifter and he sure is more beefy than his days as Hobbit, Sam or even little Mikey in the Goonies! While Blake Clark's as Marvin, Lucy's croaky voiced father, who gives up his business to care for his daughter, adds sentimentality and some great wisecracks to the film.
~~~DIRECTION~~~Director Peter Segal (Anger Management) uses the lush Hawaiian settings to full effect, but doesn’t let it detract from the plot and characters. The fluidity of the scenes, and sweet chemistry let me sit back and enjoy without checking my watch. Despite the obvious charm of the film there are some weak points, from the ewww Walrus vomit scene to the mocked gender ambiguous Alexa. (so unnecessary! but probably liked by Sandler fans) But I did appreciate some of the comedy, Lucy’s dad, brother and Ula were hilarious. Sandler was also hilarious when sobbing along to the Beach Boys “Wouldn’t it be Nice”. The penguin was cute though, and the walruses were expertly trained, they looked so sweet flapping kisses. The key success of this film is that the romantic couple are actually very likeable and can be cared about too. The ending wasn’t the expected one but it quietly pleased me and made the film more memorable. This will definitely be different for each individual, but my friend also agreed with me about the ending.
~~~~SOUNDTRACK~~~~Like ‘The Wedding Singer’, ‘Dates’ features classic 80s love songs covered in reggae style. I wasn’t around the first time but I have a fair few 80s favourites. The film opens with Wayne Wonder’s fab version of the Thompson Twins classic “Hold Me Now”. “Your Love”, by Wyclef Jean and Eve gets you swaying to the chilled beat. Dryden Mitchell’s (Alien Ant Farm) cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” is pretty good too. Another tune that stuck out for me was, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, a sweet mellow track, played rightly so at the end of the film. While, UB40’s cover of The Police’s “Every Breathe You Take” is not exactly earthshaking, much prefer the original. The only non-official music artist is Adam Sandler with his love tribute, “Forgetful Lucy”, lovely lyrics but…don’t give up the day job Adam! Overall, there are some nice 80s soundtracks but I won’t be buying the album, I’ll just get the DVD and listen to them hehehe.
~~~Bottom Line~~~ A romantic comedy that is a delightful and touching tale of romance with generally just the right ounce of comedy. A wonderful credit to the leading stars. I recommend this to all who love a credible romantic comedy. I’ll certainly be watching it again and again.
~~~Where can I catch this?~~ This is still out on general release at local cinemas, so if you’d like to catch it, you can check cinema times at the following cinemas: www.SHOWCASE.co.uk, www.UCI.co.uk, www.CINEWORLD.co.uk, www.STERCENTURY.co.uk, www.ODEON.co.uk. Hope those help, not sure which other cinemas are showing this! Thanks, Sid xx.
Pictures of 50 First Dates (DVD)
50
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
50 First Datesis a sweet-natured vehicle for sweet-natured stars Adam Sandler and Drew ... more
Barrymore, and their track record withThe Wedding Singerno doubt factors in its lowbrow appeal. But while the well-matched lovebirds wrestle with a gimmicky plot (sh...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star together for the first time since The Wedding Singer ... more
in the funniest romantic comedy of the year.Henry Roth (Sandler) lives an enviable life in a Hawaiian paradise, enjoying the company of countless beautiful women ...
50 First Datesis a sweet-natured vehicle for sweet-natured stars Adam Sandler and Drew ... more
Barrymore, and their track record withThe Wedding Singerno doubt factors in its lowbrow appeal. But while the well-matched lovebirds wrestle with a gimmicky plot (sh...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Henry Roth (Sandler) the local marina veterinarian only dates tourists because he's ... more
afraid of commitment - that is until he meets Lucy (Barrymore). Unfortunately Lucy lost her short-term memory months ago in a car accident and for her each day is...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![50 First Dates [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78486739.jpg "50 First Dates [DVD] [2004]")
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (1%):
