2004 was a better time for cinema. Nicolas Cage could still steal the Declaration of Independence without a shroud of irony. Sam Raimi was still the chancellor of the Spider-Man franchise that now can only guarantee its most desired returns when pulling his (Raimi’s) variants through the multiverse. And a Happy Madison production could still make $200 million at the box office.
On February 13 of that year, 50 First Dates, one of the century’s most successful romantic comedies, was released to commemorate Valentine’s Weekend. Starring Adam Sandler (joined, as always, by a merry band of SNL alums and his entourage gofers-turned-repertory players) and Drew Barrymore in their second of three films together, the MTV Movie Award-winning “chick flick” is essentially a “Sandlerized” Groundhog Day where the lead is not the time loop-inflicted; he is Andie MacDowell.
The film introduces us to Hawaii-based Henry Roth (Sandler), a Sea Life Park veterinarian with dreams of Antarctica by day and “commitaphobe” womanizer by night. He comes down with an unexpected case of hopeless romanticism amid his daily attempts to woo a waffle house-building Hukilau Café regular (Barrymore) who can’t remember him.
Having sustained brain damage during a car accident with her father (Blake Clark) a year prior, Barrymore’s Lucy Widmore is steadfastly-cared-for by he and her muscle-head brother, Doug (Sean Astin). She can’t form new memories, as each day a new slate clean of all things short-term begins again.
To her, “today” is always Sunday, October 13, 2002. The unknowingly out-of-practice art teacher soon finds her painter’s requiem through dreams of he who escapes her waking life – until each moment she presses play.
The acting pair, whom Barrymore prophetically christened “screen soulmates” in her plea to star opposite “The Sandman” in The Wedding Singer (1998), deploy airborne chemistry to carry audiences past the plot holes or inaccuracies that may arise. Though The British Medical Journal noted the severe anterograde amnesia syndrome Lucy suffers could not exist in reality, the film nevertheless endearingly treats its creative license as a privilege. Even if The Beach Boys’ Greatest Hits CD earns a scratch or is lost altogether after the credits roll, Henry Roth and Lucy Widmore defy the odds to contend that true love can triumph over incurable conditions.
Oh, wouldn’t that be nice?
Moreover, through the obligatorily “egg-headed” self-deprecation and irreverence we come to expect with a Sandler-stamped outing, the comedian checked off all the necessary boxes to satisfy his devout fan base and former studio partner alike. At the same time, with 50 First Dates, Sandler followed up his first true drama, 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love, with material merited enough to dispel the notion perpetuated in satirical earnest by South Park that his film plots could be algorithmically assembled by a foul-mouthed movie-pitching robot named “AWESOME-O” (weak).
At 37 years old, Sandler was then-recently wed to his wife, Jackie. His daughters Sunny and Sadie would both arrive by decade’s end – looming fatherhood he foresaw when “introducing” Barrymore’s character to their daughter in 50 First Dates’ chill-inducing final image, memorably cut to the late Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s arguably superior acoustic rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow.”
Not to mention: Sandler’s own father, Stanley, died during production, culminating in a can’t-miss title card dedication during the credits. As a whole, this period of Sandler’s career would become subsequently remembered as the demonstration of his willingness to take even larger steps away from an exclusive relationship with light comedy.
This is made evident by the subversively heavy-on-emotion, half-family affair/half-futuristic nightmare that was 2006’s Best Makeup Oscar-nominated Click, the 9/11 widower buddy comedy Reign Over Me the following year, further self-reflection on the importance of one’s work and mortality in Funny People (2009) and so forth.
It was a time where Sandler was wrestling with accepting the next chapter, too, while shaping how to best retain the lovable goofball he’s most identified as. To continue to make movie magic and become his most whole self was the key; and 50 First Dates was the lock. It was a time for comedy with an apolitical agenda, but an agenda all the same. It was a time for living, laughing, loving and blubbering.
It was the time of the Sandman.
And still is. On many levels, 50 First Dates proved you can follow a formula and still serve up a fresh meal popular enough nearly two decades later to become regular meme and GIF fodder, and even play at a Commack shopping center’s pop-up drive-in during the first year of the pandemic.
Pay no mind to its Rotten Tomatoes certification, though, whatever it may be, because Adam Sandler and the critical consensus go together like Spam and Reese’s.
