This is a film that my missus has been waiting to see for ages so in an effort to win some brownie points (not that I need any of course) I added this to my Blockbuster list. Sure enough it is one of the first films I was sent, much to my girlfriends delight. What better way to spend a cold Saturday night than settling down in front of a romantic comedy with a bottle of vodka and a pack of Stella? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

** Background **

This film sees Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler re-united in a romantic comedy. After the success of The Wedding Singer in 1998 the on screen chemistry between the two can be guaranteed which is always the most the difficult thing to achieve in this sort of film. This film also sees Sandler reunited with Peter Segal who returns to direct this film after previously working on Anger Management.

** Storyline **

Henry Roth is the king of holiday romance. Working as a vet in the popular holiday destination of Hawaii he is in an ideal position to get involved with women with very little come back. He works hard at keeping all future contact with his conquests to a minimum. Fearing commitment, he will do and say just about anything to prevent them from having any way of contacting him once they leave the island.

This is not how he envisions his life being forever though. Through his work he has developed an interest in walrus’ and intends to leave the island to do a full years research into their behaviour. Henry has developed something of a friendship with one of the Walrus who he uses to play pranks on his workmates.

Lucy is a young woman who, after being involved in a serious car accident, is unable to make an new memories. Lucy remembers everything up to the day before her accident but nothing since. Her father and brother have been doing the same routine every day for the last year to keep Lucy believing that it is Sunday (the day the accident happened, which also happens to be her fathers birthday). Each night they put out the newspaper from the day of the accident and repaint the garage white, and rewrap the birthday present that Lucy bought for her father.

When Lucy wakes in the morning she goes through the same routine of reading the paper while having waffles at the local diner and then giving her father his birthday present. Everyone at the diner is aware of Lucy’s problem and try to make sure she is happy and not bothered by anything.

With what we know so far Lucy appears to be Henry’s ideal woman as she would have no recollection of him in the morning. Everyone’s happy. The only problem is that when Henry meets Lucy one morning at the diner he finds himself falling for her. After charming her over breakfast he gets her to agree to meet him the following day for breakfast. The problem is that the following day she doesn’t know who he is. Henry must now come up with new ways to make Lucy fall for him each day. He must also overcome her protective family who are desperate to keep her protected from the truth.

** Characters **

Henry Roth - played by Adam Sandler (Anger Management, Mr Deeds) is a vet working in a sea-life centre in Hawaii. Henry is a womaniser who is terrified of commitment. He has employed a wide variety of strategies for getting rid of women who have grown too attached to him.

Lucy Whitmore – played by Drew Barrymore (Charlie’s Angels) is a young lady who, after a car accident, has been left with no short-term memory. Lucy can remember everything up to the day before the accident but nothing since.

Doug Whitmore – played by Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) is Lucy’s brother. Doug is really insecure about himself and spends most of his day exercising in an effort to appear strong. Along with Marlin, Doug has been working to make Lucy’s life as painless as possible for the last year.

Marlin Whitmore – played by Blake Clark (The Ladykillers) is Lucy’s father. Marlin was driving the car when the accident happened. Marlin is finding it difficult to accept what has happened to his daughter and works tirelessly to keep his daughter from any pain.

Dr. Keats – played by Dan Aykroyd (Pearl Harbor) is the doctor who has been treating Lucy since the accident. Dr Keats is convinced that Lucy will never recover from her injuries and needs to find a way of life to suit her.

** My Opinion **

I have to be honest and say that had the missus not wanted to see this film then I would have happily left it off my list and not given it a second though. This is not the sort of film I normally like to watch and not a film I had heard a lot about from its time in the cinema. I remember hearing a couple of good reports about it but nothing strong enough to make me want to see it.

In fairness this film was much better than I could have ever expected it to be. It did make me laugh and in its own way it was quite sweet. It tends to be a failing of romantic comedies that they spend so much time and effort trying to be romantic that they neglect the comedy. This film seemed to find quite a nice balance between the romance and the comedy that made it enjoyable to watch.

The idea behind the storyline is fairly different to anything else that we have seen in this genre recently. There will be obvious comparisons to films such as Memento and Groundhog Day but neither of these would be classed as a romantic comedy and to be honest this is a completely different film. The storyline itself is very much a case of what you see is what you get but to its credit it never pretends to be anything else. This is something of a no brainer, feel good film rather than anything too involving. There are no twists to keep you on your toes and it is nothing if not predictable as all good romantic comedies should be.

As I have said before I did find this film funny and enjoyable and I think that this is a combination of two things: the script and the characters. Starting with the script, I actually thought it was quite well written. It is not the sort of thing that is likely to win any awards or get too much recognition but for the type of film that was being made I thought it was pretty good and it was definitely helped by the cast used to make the film. Sandler and Barrymore were both pretty good in their respective roles.

Barrymore is fantastic as Lucy and does a good job of making the character instantly loveable, which is crucial to the storyline. She is cute, quirky and funny and really brings the character to life. Sandler is also good as the fun loving Henry Roth. This is far from his best role but he brings his usual comic style to the role making the character a loveable rouge. Barrymore and Sandler work well together generating a good on screen chemistry that makes the daily romance seem all the more real.

As I said before I enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought it would. It is an easily enjoyable film with a real feel good factor and a happy ending. There is nothing particularly ground breaking here but in terms of romantic comedies it is one of the better ones I have seen. There is plenty of romantic gestures and heartfelt moments that even I noticed as well as the sort of childish comedy that gets me laughing every time.

** More Information **

If you like the sound of what you have read here and want to find out more then check out the films website here: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/50firstdates/

** Availability **

50 First Dates is now available to buy and rent of DVD and video and can be obtained for as little as £8 from play.com (at the time of writing.)

** Overall **

Overall I would recommend that you give this film a chance. It is far from a classic and not something that I would want to buy, but it entertained me for a couple of hours and is something that I would recommend you to try. Probably want to rent it rather than buy it though as I am not sure I would want to watch it again.

Thanks for reading