50 First Dates

Three films in one! It’s a trite romantic comedy, a disgusting gross-out comedy and a touching story of a woman suffering with a debilitating disorder. While the first two work about as well as G.W. Bush’s job-growth plans, the final one is shockingly touching. Adam Sandler is bizarrely cast as some sort of Hawaiian Romeo, wooing dozens of women and at least one man into short-term sexual relations, and then breaking their hearts when they’re blessed with the news that his fat, ugly mug will not be staring back at them from across the pillow for the rest of their natural lives. Then, in spite of his fear of commitment, he falls in love with a woman who forgets each day when she falls asleep at night. Drew Barrymore is strangely affecting in this role, and her tragic story is actually handled in a way that’s moving without being simplistic or sappy. Unfortunately, for your four-hanky experience, you have to put up with the weird creepiness of seeing Adam Sandler essentially date rape an amnesiac. Plus, a walrus vomits on an innocent German. It’s a film filled with as many contradictions as an Ann Coulter screed, but it’s not boring, and is, as it’s no doubt calculated to be, a reasonably decent date movie.