Overview
The always hilarious Adam Sandler hooks up with the lovely Drew Barrymore again in this cute little romantic comedy (seems like a common theme lately, huh?). People could see the on screen chemistry Sandler had with Barrymore in The Wedding Singer, and were wondering when we could get another glimpse at that again. It’s exactly what I expected and a little more.

Henry Roth is an Arctic marine life veterinarian, but works and lives in Hawaii at the Sea Life Park. In some ways, he’s similar to Austin Powers, where he dazzles and charms women tourists into bed, but then promptly sends them off back to wherever they came from. He spends the majority of his time working on and restoring his schooner so that he can finally realize his dream of sailing up to Alaska and studying walruses. As he gears up for an open seas test, he suffers a severe set back and finds himself using his little life boat to get to shore. He finds himself at the Hukilau Café where he has himself some breakfast before figuring out what his next move is. When he is blinded by a bright light (a utensil being twirled in the sun) he notices a beautiful young lady. She is in the midst of building a house out of her waffles and Henry offers his assistance. She introduces herself as Lucy Whitmore. Henry has breakfast with her and falls for her very quickly. As they leave the café they agree to meet back at the same time, same place the next day for breakfast. The next day comes and Henry walks over to her, and quickly realizes she has no recollection of what happened the previous day.

Is she pretending to not know him or is it something more?

Review
Being forgotten by someone is probably one of the most awkward and sad things someone can be on the receiving end of. It is extremely difficult to imagine the person you love the most forgetting everything about you each and every day after they go to sleep. That in itself sounds like something most people could not take emotionally or mentally. For Henry Roth, an Arctic marine life veterinarian living in Hawaii, it’s an every day thing, something he needs to deal with if he is to be with the woman he falls for.  That woman is Lucy Whitmore, a funny, beautiful art-teacher Henry meets at the Hukilau Café shortly after wrecking his boat. After a unique introduction and a wonderful breakfast, they part ways, promising to meet up again the following day for breakfast. The next day rolls around and Henry is floored when Lucy pretends she doesn’t even know who he is. He learns from the locals that Lucy was in a traumatic car accident a year ago and lost her short term memory. Each time she goes to bed, her short term memory is wiped clean, and she is forced to relive the day of the accident over and over again. Over the course of the year, she’s been sheltered by her father (played by Blake Clark), who was the driver of the car, and her brother, Doug (played by Sean Astin), who go to great lengths to ensure Lucy lives each day thinking it was the day of the accident. The day of the accident was her father’s birthday, and she paints him a beautiful picture out in the garage on the wall for him. At the end of the day, her father and brother force themselves to paint over her mural with white paint and watching her paint something new the next day. They don’t do this until her father takes a snapshot of it, in case she gets her memory back and she wants to see what she painted. They even go as far as having special newspapers printed up so that they are of the day of the accident and she won’t realize that it is over a year later. As Henry enters the picture, father and son quickly write him off as someone who has ulterior motives and isn’t interested in what is best for Lucy. He changes their minds and does his best to help Lucy move on from her accident and tries to get her to retain even a days worth of memories. Henry goes above and beyond the call of duty in his quest to gain Lucy’s heart. Even though he must start anew each and every day, he’s willing to do what it takes to spend the rest of his life with the woman he falls hard and fast for.

Acting
If there is one thing that Adam Sandler is good at it’s getting the audience to laugh. In just about all of his movies he has some sort of love interest, but rarely would you say that he produces romantic comedies. This is a movie Sandler is perfectly suited for. It gives him a chance to be a bit more serious than he usually is, while still being the adorable, funny guy that guys can relate to and girls adore. The on screen chemistry between Drew Barrymore and Sandler is definitely there, and it was even there during The Wedding Singer. It works because they’re both goofy people, easily adored, and they have elements in their characters that you can relate to. Sandler puts on display his softer side and the women eat it up. He’s charming, and makes people laugh everywhere he goes. He seems a bit more mature in this film, but it could be due to the writing. Over the next couple years, we’ll see if Sandler decides to attempt another shot at the serious stuff, since Punch Drunk Love failed horribly. That wasn’t his fault though, since the writing was atrocious and he wasn’t given that much of a chance to use his acting skills to make up for that shortcoming.

The lovely Drew Barrymore is perfect for the role of Lucy. Her pretty smile and cute half lisp adds to the adorable factor that Lucy exudes throughout the entire film. She is very convincing as someone who forgets what everything that happens the day before, and sells it perfectly. Ignorance is bliss and she is living the dream. She might not need to act all that much, since her role is similar to that of the one she had in The Wedding Singer as well as her roles in Charlie’s Angels. She is great at the ditzy, clueless pretty girl that everyone loves to chase after. She certainly has a much harder job than Sandler does, who only needs to show her that he loves her over and over again, whereas she has her work cut out for her in that she needs to go through a much larger spectrum of emotions.

I think it’s great that in almost all of Adam Sandler’s films you have actors Rob Schneider, Allen Covert, and John Turturro. You’re always wondering who they will turn up as in the movie and how they’ll fit their role. Sadly, Turturro is no where to be found, possibly because he could have been too busy filming the upcoming Johnny Depp film titled Secret Window. Allen Covert’s short but sweet role of Ten Second Tom is hilarious, and it suited him quite well. Covert always plays a character that has something wrong with him or he is a complete whack job. He may not be in the film for that long, but longtime followers of Sandler flicks will definitely appreciate what he does for the movie.

Rob Schneider is a wonderful native Hawaiian named Ula who has a propensity to produce large quantities of children and has a knack and an ‘eye’ for danger (sad, I know, but the pun was intended). He’s a loyal friend to Henry, and there is no shock here that Schneider and Sandler work wonderfully together. In whatever movie or role he is cast, he seems to bring the mood up, whether he is saying, ‘Hip…Hip-Hop…Hip-Hop-Anonymous’ or ‘You can do iiiiiiiiiit!’. The two of them complement each other quite nicely as they take on roles in each others movies, and I definitely always look forward to seeing them in the other’s movie, wondering where they will show up.

Sean Astin is far from Mordor, but he still looks the part of a Hobbit, even as a steroid using, lisp spitting aspiring weightlifter in the role of Doug. He sucks up most of the laughs from the audience and all eyes are on him when he is on the screen. He is always looking out for Lucy and will do anything to make sure she is protected. Astin is a great actor, and I’m hoping his career will take a turn on the upside after the recent success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Directing
Peter Segal has been involved in the Naked Gun series, as well as one other Sandler movie (Anger Management) previous to 50 First Dates. He shows that he can direct big stars like Barrymore and Sandler, letting them take control of the direction of the film in many aspects, but making sure they are staying true to the script. Chances are good that he’ll do the same with his upcoming remake of the Longest Yard staring Sandler, Snoop Dogg, and Chris Rock with Rock and Sandler, but will have to do a bit more directing with the more raw Snoop. The location of the movie was key, because I don’t think a mainland atmosphere would have sold this all that well.

Segal does a great job of integrating the lovey dovey stuff with the funny bits, and he has an easy job because of the way it is written. He has a lot of talent to work with, and doesn’t disappoint. He uses lighting and some different settings within Hawaii to his advantage with sunsets, crashing waves, and even a lighthouse. You add all those elements together and you have half of what you need to make a romantic comedy work.

Final Thoughts
Typical Adam Sandler, but that isn’t always a good thing. Although I think it was a really funny movie, a lot of what happens (especially near the end of the film) just doesn’t bode well with me. I knew what to expect for the most part when I bought the ticket and wasn’t that surprised overall by anything that happened. You do have a sense that you’ve seen this before, but not necessarily in an Adam Sandler flick. Because of the nature of the movie, it’s constantly being compared to that of Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray has to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right. I wouldn’t get too involved comparing the two, but I would say it is entertaining nonetheless. The only problem with it is it leaves you with some unanswered questions, caused by some shoddy writing.

HYNDSY Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Planets


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