Review of 50 First Dates (2004) by Liam C — 16 Apr 2015

I've joked about it in the past but I really am starting to wonder if critics just walk into films prepared to dislike them based on principle because the negative reviews this film received I really don't understand at all. The critics consensus would have you believe that the film overwhelms with the usual Happy Madison type of humor and while it has it in there at points, as well as the random one-liners that probably could have been edited out, it can all be counted on one hand. They've just taken one little part of the film they didn't like and blown it wildly out of proportion to make it seem like it's all bad and the filmmakers realised this was a sweet story and treated as such because '50 First Dates' is a really heart-warming film. The overall story is really sad and you just want Henry and Lucy to be with one another so much. I did question at first what the point of telling her what was wrong with her was because she'd just forget again the next day anyway and when we spend about 10-15 minutes, initially, explaining what was wrong with her it felt kind of pointless but that has a pretty nice conclusion as well. And I thought they would sleep together at some point and that would lead to something crazy and it did.

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore reunite and they work so effortlessly well with one another, watching them act with one another is very easy to do and they tick all the right boxes. Honestly, from some angles Drew Barrymore reminded me of Julianne Moore a little bit. This film has all the usual cameos that you'd have come to expect from a HM production by now, they even managed to get Dan Aykroyd of all people and Kevin James has a pretty funny blink-and-you'll-miss-him moment. And hey we have Rob Schneider in here as well and I thought he was pretty funny, we also have some really cute animals as well.

There were some things I questioned, like, why didn't the waitress tell Henry that Lucy had something wrong with her but they all work themselves out and are explained in events that happen next. In the beginning I thought that she could have just told him that she has something wrong with her but it escalates to something much more than that. I thought that, at least, Henry could take pictures of them two together to prove to the family that they had at least me before, hell, he didn't even tell them that they had met before he even knew what was wrong with her. The only part that didn't seem to make much sense was that Henry was tied up in an attempts to meet Lucy once more but we are told that she only sings when they meet but she was already singing, so wouldn't that have meant they already met? Because why else would he be tied up, but oh well. And you do start to wonder at some point how she could have lasted as long as she did without stumbling into trouble, and she does get in trouble with the police at some point but at that point you're over thinking it too much. And it didn't have the usual Happy Madison opening! But as this is a big collaborative effort, it makes sense.

The film overall is just really nice and really sweet, it's a real tearjerker as well, an Adam Sandler film managed to make me tear up once again! It has a positive message and Adam Sandler plays a really likeable and believable character and seeing how he tries to win back the love of his life everyday is something I'm sure we could all take some notes from. It is an absolutely wonderful film and I am so glad that I have finally seen it.