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| Though no great Sandler fan, I found this "oldie" of his fairly charming. |
Director: Peter Segal
A pretty decent rom-com, and one that serves to further remind us of Adam Sandler's oft-abandoned potential.
Set in Hawai'i, Sandler plays animal veterinarian and womanizer Dr. Henry Roth. Roth's modus operandi is to lie about his identity in fantastic ways in order to bed vacationing single women, which allows him to make no serious relationship commitments. This changes when Henry comes across Lucy (Drew Barrymore). At first, Henry sees Lucy as another potential conquest. That is, until he is made aware that Lucy suffers from short-term memory loss, which causes her to forget everything she has experienced that day once she goes to sleep that night. Despite her condition, Henry quickly falls in love with her, going to great lengths to re-introduce himself to Lucy each day, despite the fact that she never remembers him once the day is over.
Like many people, my history with Adam Sandler has been very mixed, and I have almost completely avoided the dreck comedies that he's been putting out for many years now. Still, I loved a few of his earlier comedies, especially Happy Gilmore, and I found him especially effective in the against-type dramatic role he played in Punch-Drunk Love. 50 First Dates was his second teaming with Drew Barrymore, after the also-entertaining The Wedding Singer in 1998, and it is arguably a deeper, more touching movie than that earlier pairing.
The general appeal of Adam Sandler has always been the comedy of his Jekyl/Hyde "lovable dope/furious buffoon" balancing act. In 50 First Dates, he drops the rage monster persona and swaps it out for the part of a womanizer - a move that was a refreshing change of pace and allowed the more charismatic aspects of his on-screen persona to shine through. He and the also-sweet Drew Berrymore have a very strong chemistry, which is no doubt why they've done several rom-coms together spanning two decades. This was still very much the case in this movie, in which the love story is spun out nicely, with some fun, light-hearted comic contrivances. It was actually effective enough to pull one's attention away from the moronic character Ula, played by the always over-the-top Rob Schneider (one of several Sandler buddies who show up and add plenty of ham to nearly all of his movies).
While the movie isn't to be taken too seriously, the romance elements are endearing enough. It's one that I could see myself going back to at some point, as it's one that my wife quite enjoys. We can both share some good laughs while I don't feel my intelligence is being completely insulted. That's really about all I need from a romantic comedy, and 50 First Dates provides that in the beautifully lush setting of Hawai'i.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
How on earth I - a fairly devoted fan of comic book superhero movies - had never seen this movie is a bit of a mystery. It received a fair amount of buzz and was a solid commercial success when it was released back in 2010. Still, I somehow completely missed it. And even when I watched and thoroughly enjoyed Kingsmen: The Secret Service, by the same writer and director, and saw that he was also responsible for Kick-Ass, I still went a few more years without seeing it. Well, that is now remedied.
The movie is merely alright, which was a bit of a surprise, given its reputation.
The movie follows Dave Lizewski, a run-of-the-mill high school senior deeply enamored of costumed, comic book superheroes. So enamored, in fact, that he decides to become one after witnessing more than a few brutal crimes in his neighborhood. While not having any supernatural abilities (nobody does, in this film's world), Lizewski trains to fight, dubs himself "Kick-Ass," and even manages to be just successful enough to start building something of a fan following. It also captures the attention of a powerful local crime boss and a father-daughter costumed vigilante duo in the area. Things grow ever more treacherous for Lizewski as the stakes get higher for him and his crime-fighting alter ego.
Given the context of its time, I can guess that I would have loved this movie far more had I seen it back in 2010 or even within a year or two of its release. It's harder to recall now, but back then, the big-budget, comic book superhero movie trend was only just beginning to get into full swing. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight had come out a few years before, sure. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe was still barely nascent. What is now a 23-movies-and-counting global movie juggernaut was then only a two-movie dream, with Iron Man and the relatively forgotten The Incredible Hulk being the only movies released up to then. And the X-Men movie franchise was in a bit of a rut, having released the laughably messy X-Men Origins: Wolverine the year before. In the face of these rather straightforward superhero tales came Kick-Ass, an R-rated, darkly funny and extremely violent costumed hero story of a very different ilk. It must have felt like a real treat to watch something that turned the cinematic genre on its ear a little bit.
Seeing it for the first time in 2019, though? It just doesn't pack as much of a punch. By now, comic book superhero movies and (now) TV shows have gotten at least as funny, dark, and quirky as Kick-Ass was nearly a decade ago. It's still entertaining enough, but if you're looking for smart, mature "super-hero" stories, there are just too many better options on TV and film now.
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