By rough estimate, I own 339 movies on DVD or Blu-ray, and it’s been a long time since I’ve watched a lot of them. Since I have a bit of time on my hands these days, I decided to take a few weeks to work my way through them all. Then my husband pointed out one movie a day would be nearly a year, so I revised my project. Between now and June 10, 2015, I will be watching and writing about each and every one of the movies I own, in the order they are arranged on my shelf (i.e., alphabetically, with certain exceptions). No movie will be left unwatched (even the most embarrassing, ridiculous titles are subject to scrutiny), however, I will not be discussing any other discs I might own, such as TV series, sporting events, or live concerts as part of this endeavor. I welcome your comments, your words of encouragement and your declarations of my insanity.
Movie #4: 50 First Dates
I have probably watched this movie, in whole or in part, several dozen times on some cable channel or another, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the DVD. This occurred to me the moment I started it up, because not only was the menu unfamiliar, but I had completely forgotten the film starts by portraying Sandler’s Henry Roth as some sort of lothario who has countless hot and sexy affairs with anonymous women visiting Hawaii and then gives them some song and dance before they head home, so he never has to even hand out his phone number. Honestly, this is a plot point best forgotten, because while it’s not unheard of for someone to have commitment issues, it’s very hard to accept Adam Sandler as a womanizer — even the movie itself makes several references to his egg-shaped head, and at one point he apologizes to Drew Barrymore’s Lucy for not being better looking. Not only that, but he strikes out with Lucy (a woman who, due to head trauma caused by a car accident over a year ago, loses her short-term memory every morning and can’t remember anything that’s happened since before the accident) at least as many times as he succeeds with her (in the early going, anyway), making it highly suspect that he has any respectable game at all.
But perhaps I’m overthinking this. 50 First Dates is a very silly movie, as 99% of the movies in the Adam Sandler oeuvre are, and that’s okay. Silly movies, by my way of thinking, are just as important as serious ones, especially if they’re done in an entertaining way. And that’s where 50 First Dates succeeds, because Barrymore (who is perhaps at her most beautiful here) and Sandler have a fun and easy chemistry that translates well onscreen and is enjoyable to watch. Plus it has some solidly funny moments (Barrymore actually might land better jokes than Sandler and his regular crew of dudebro actor friends, but if you’re not looking for high art, there are quite a few laughs to be found here). Most of all, though, it has that most intangible of qualities: infinite rewatchability. And that’s why I bought it.
Viable Option 