50 First Dates (2004)

This movie upsets me.

First, full disclosure: I am no Adam Sandler fan. I hate his whiny sing-song voice and his stupid-looking haircut and I think he's a super-suck actor. Even his "serious" movies (Punch-Drunk Love & Spanglish) are ruined by his presence. This movie, however, certainly isn't meant to be serious. Evidences: 1)We're immediately told that Sandler is some kind of serial ladies-man that leaves every woman aglow with pleasure -- they buzz about their encounter with his perfection for days afterward. My thoughts? Look at him! Sure, he might be a great date...but very few hot women on vacation are going to give him the opportunity to help them get their grooves back. 2) His co-worker is some kind of mannish foreign woman who talks about sex (she prefers sausage to taco) and who gets covered in a wave of walrus puke within the first 10 minutes. 3) His sidekick is a one-eyed Rob Schneider who gets bit by sharks and has a brood of much-smarter-than-him children following him everywhere.

However, there is a very good, sweet, effective movie hiding underneath the wave of Sandler crap. Drew Barrymore is just adorably believable as the brain-damaged object of affection, a condition that's (thankfully) not played for laughs the way the trailers would have you believe. I really liked the meat of the story and was actually moved to tears a couple of times. The non-Barrymore segments, however, were just embarrassing. I probably wouldn't have minded so much if I could dismiss this as a gross-out comedy -- but it's truly upsetting that a terrific tearjerking romance was allowed to be Sandlerized.

B, as is. Without the crap, though, it would be a solid A.