After his mannered performance in Punch Drunk Love (2002), Adam Sandler returns to more familiar territory with the dim-witted 50 First Dates. And though Sandler hasn't deviated too radically from his on screen persona of a brash, loud mouthed man-child, he's learnt to tone it down to a level where it's almost bearable. Note that word 'almost', however.
Sandler plays Henry Roth, a Hawaiian based vet with something of a fear of commitment. Leafing his way through a foxy selection of tourists, he can't engage in anything resembling a long term relationship until he meets Lucy (Barrymore) in a local diner. Thing is, she was involved in a car accident a year previous, which has utterly shot her short term memory, leading her to live the same day over and over again, much to the chagrin of her fisherman father (Clark) and her iron pumping brother (Astin, displaying a gift for comedy). Her fragility strikes a chord within the philander Henry and he sets about convincing Lucy that he's the man for her - even if he's got to start over every single day.
Owing more than a vague debt to Memento in terms of its basic premise, there's a dearth of quality gags and a hefty sense of repetition which undermines 50 First Dates' effectiveness. Despite this silly dependence on the standard Sandler fare of gross comedy, there is the odd surprise to be found in 50 First Dates. Gorgeously shot by Jack Green (a long time collaborator of Clint Eastwood), the lack of comedic magnetism doesn't impair the development of a - whisper it - tender relationship between Lucy and Henry, with some moments of genuine warmth and charm. But most of that is down to the impish Barrymore, not her boorish co-star.
